RFID Cat Feeder Helps With The Diet

[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/10896151]

When faced with having 2 cats with different dietary needs, [Landmanr] had to decide between manually stopping the cat on a diet from eating normal food, or building a dietary robot overlord. [Landmanr] chose the robot route. Using an old cd rom for the opening/closing mechanism, and RFID to distinguish between felines, [Landmanr] no longer has to stand guard while each cat eats. We particularly like the design of the antenna, so that the cat has to stick its head through it to activate the food opening. You don’t see that version in the video, but it is in the instructable.

29 thoughts on “RFID Cat Feeder Helps With The Diet

  1. My two cats are both right there with each other eating–the one who is heavy is like a bulldog when it comes to food, so I can envision the little cat opening the door and then bulldog showing up and letting the CD drive just wack against it’s head while it keeps eating :-P

    But a cool hack/idea none the less :)

  2. @hmburgers

    Thanks for the laugh – I can totally envision that! You do bring up a good point though, won’t most CD drives just close again if they hit an obstacle? Maybe that sensor is removed – I didn’t read the entire instructable. Either way it is a great idea and with a sturdier enclosure it could be marketable!

  3. where can you get a rfid detector and reader. I need one bad (lost my passport under a pile of documents and boxes I suppose) I want to make sure it is there before digging into the mountain of stuff and thought an rfid detector might help identify the existence of the rfid chip embedded in the passport.

    Where can I get one and how much does this thing cost ? Commercial stuff starts from several hundred dollars which I am not willing to part with.

  4. @Mel
    I’m not sure what frequency a passport’s RFID tag operates at.
    The ID-20 module I use operates at 125kHz and supports EM4001 tags. I’m thinking they may be using a different frequency. If I had a passport I would try verifying this for you.

  5. This is pretty cool. My girlfriend has 3 cats, and I am trying to convince her to chip them so that we can put an RFID reader on the cat door and keep them from going back outside at night. Right now, we have to round them up and latch the door shut every night, it would be cool to just deny them access to the outside after a certain time of day!

    I guess we could just put tags on their collars, but 2 of the cats have problems with getting their collars caught on things, and the collars come of (the safety kind that won’t strangle them!) One of the cats has been through 3 collars in the last 9 months >:-|

  6. Some cats are put off by mechanical noises and moving things, so they might not eat from this thing, but besides that a great idea! (Does Weight Watchers know about this?)

  7. I’ve been trying to do something similar here:- Pets where I live all have to be microchipped, so I have been trying to make an RFID door reader that can read the implanted microchip on my cat. I modified an arduino-controlled commercial RFID module from 150kHz down to 135.4kHz to read the signal but I’m yet to figure out a way to read her chip without having the coil on top of her! Eventually it will basically be used to control a cat-door, with a set “lock-in” time so she cant go back outside after dark.

  8. @Kep
    Where’s your information from? Generally RFID tags have nowhere near enough power to cause cellular mutation/tumors.

    Also, I would assume this guy has the RFID on the cat’s collar or something, and not embedded in its head.

  9. @Kep
    I’m with M4CGYV3R on this one. In fact, most RFID tags are passive and radiate NO power until excited by a nearby reader/antenna at the right frequency).
    Active tags might be another story (although I haven’t heard of any studies verifying tumors), but I’ve never had to change my dog’s batteries, so I’m pretty sure it’s passive.

  10. @M4CGYV3R

    The health issue of RFID tags has nothing to do with electromagnetic radiation, but rather the implant itself. It sounds like the tissue is reacting to the foreign body, causing scar tissue, rejection, or even tumours. I suspect this is highly dependant on the coating of the capsule, and the injection placement/technique.

  11. @ Potato
    As an RVT I have a ton of cat parents with the same concern. If they could have this awesome device- it would silence all their objects to changing diets for the cats for their health!

    Love answers to problems- where can I sign up?
    : )
    rest of us means those of us that have to buy it- ’cause we wouldn’t know how to begin to make it.

  12. You can also use a MeowSpace, which solves the same problem, but doesn’t leave the door open, and also prevents the feeding cat from being bullied away from the food. Check it out. It’s pretty cool. A friend of mine got one. It works really well, looks nice, and she says the company is excellent with support. Also, there is an unconditional 60 day full return/refund policy.

Leave a Reply

Please be kind and respectful to help make the comments section excellent. (Comment Policy)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.