My proposed final project is an automated fish feeder. This machine will be the mechanism that feeds a large number of fish within an aquaponics system that holds 5000 gallons of water. My potential plan is for it to manually be turned on/off, programmed motors to dispense food on a time schedule, have the ability to operate via computer (depending on the program it is running) or on its own through power outlet. Within this initial phase for the machine, the only output is operation by motor; in coming phases, I would like to implement additional sensory input readings (temperature, moisture/humidity, etc) that I believe will be beneficial with the aquaponics system once it is up and running.
Of course, this project itself is not a new one. Previous "inventions" have been done and sold by a number of manufacturers and sold by known and unknown companies. Names such as Petco, Amazon, Walmart, as well as a variety of blogs with "Do-It-Yourself" posts that have helped me to gain different perspectives on how to attack this project and be able to hone in on my design asthetic and the process. I got my design ideas through previous created fish feeders, but also possibly implementing the design of a gumball machine.
Inclusive to materials and components, questions to be addressed within this document will be: where will the materials come from?, how much is each piece of material?, what parts and systems will be made?, what processes will be used?
At this point I have a bit of a backlog. With that being said, I still need to finalize the overall design including the parts that will connect, create my arduino and the boards for the input and output, and last (but not least) organize and create the software that will be used so that my boards can operate and interface with each other.
At this time I do not have nay questions regarding the workflow or anticipated needs of my project. I know what I want it to encompass, how it will be designed, what I want it to do, where I need to go and how I will get there towards completion.
I believe this project will be evaluated when parts that are planned to be mechanized move and when my arduino successfully communicates with my boards that operate how they are supposed to.