If there’s any one benefit to having a cat as a pet instead of a dog, it’s that they’re a bit more independent and able to care for themselves for many days without human intervention. The only thing that’s really needed is a way to make sure they get food and water at regular intervals, but there are plenty of off-the-shelf options for these tasks. Assuming your cat can be fed dry food, that is. [Ben Heck]’s cat has a health problem that requires a special canned wet food, and since there aren’t automatic feeders for this he built his own cat-feeding robot.
Unlike dry food that can dispense a measured amount from a hopper full of food, the wet food needs to be opened and dispensed every day. To accomplish this, his robot has a mechanism that slowly slides a wedge under the pull tab on the can, punctures the can with it, and then pulls it back to remove the lid. From there the food is ejected from the feeder down a ramp to a waiting (and sometimes startled) cat. The cans are loaded into 3D-printed cartridges and then stacked into the machine on top of each other, so the machine can dispense food cans until it runs out. This design has space for six cans.
Although there are many benefits to having pets of any sort, one of the fun side quests of pet ownership is building fun things for them to enjoy or to make caring for them easier. We even had an entire Hackaday contest based on this premise. And, if biological life forms aren’t your cup of tea, there are always virtual pets to care for as well.
Thanks to [Michael C] for the tip!
I banned yt from my life, so I have to only go by the article here but left over cat food is real nasty, is the idea here that he still comes by and cleans up after every can? Is the cat eating it out of the can?
I had an idea once that the mechanism for this kind of auto wet food feeder would be substantially simpler if the wet cat food was just in plastic pouches (like baby food is) then dispensing it is as simple as squeezing a pouch between some rollers and the tech needed is basically the same as what is in the average inkjet printer feed system.
I never figured out a good idea that would also clean whatever you squeeze the food out onto though… and sourcing cat food in pouches is probably not a diy thing.
Though… bonus points if it was to be commercialized is that the only source for the food pouches would be you or people who licensed your thing. Call it kcups for cats…
I get not wanting to give your attention-dollars and PII to EvilCorp, but in the time it took you to write that you could have stood up a VM, set up a vpn, watched the video, and discovered Ben’s functional approach to the problem.
how do you get banned from youtube? i can understand getting shadow banned in the comments (two thirds of my comments get deleted). did you post a video of someone going down on a zebra or something?
I believe he meant he just decides not to use youtube for whatever reason.
I was hoping for something like bttf, but maybe with the addition of an empty bowl sensor.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WjX1jU9pQeY
Dogs are loyal to their human masters, they provide company, some breeds can be used for practical purposes like guarding one’s home.
Cats on the other hand exist only to turn cat food into feces, damage every bit of furniture and demand new toys every week or so. A cat wouldn’t give a single damn if you died.
That’s what all cat haters say. Why would a cat give a single damn if you died, when you are a cat hater?
I’m a cat lover, and my cat totally loves me and would give a huge damn if I died (and vice-versa).
Cats are just not so gullible as dogs; they don’t fall for fake love.
:)
FWIW, I was of the same opinion that cats were aloof, only tolerated humans because we feed them etc. and I was absolutely ‘team dog’.
I now have cats (life changes in unexpected ways) and it’s absolutely not true, cats can be incredibly loyal and bonded, they’re just very discerning with who they give that loyalty to and it’s not uncommon for cats to pine away if their person dies.
Spoken like a true ignoramus. Cats are incredibly sensitive to changes in their environment; the sudden absence of a family member not only causes observable behavioral changes, it can cause medical issues, as they are significantly impacted by stress. They can and do love their humans, even if they are less slavish about it than dogs. People who make these kind of stupid remarks are usually also the type to pet them when they clearly don’t want it; they are often completely oblivious to cats’ body language.
a cat would totally care if you died. the buffet line just opened.
gwar has a song about that.
for the record im team cat. but i have to be honest, their evilness is part of why i like them.
Humans, on the other hand, have never resorted to cannibalism to stave off starvation.
That sharp rim means this is a terrible way to feed them. And due to their whiskers they should really be fed on a plate. Also, as an aside, dry food is bad for all pets, not just the ones who have already developed medical issues.
In order to make the cat eat all and keep the food fresh, the sliding can support should be catched and slowly taken out (timed, so the cat will have 2 or 3 hours to eat its contents and it is still fresh). You can use a conveyor for that. Also a camera plus cat recognition software will ensure that the cat wont get hurt while the can is taken away.