Pushistyj & Brickgeek
Pushistyj Pushistyj
Brickgeek Brickgeek
Pushistyj Pushistyj
I’ve been wondering if we could design a quiet, low‑energy feeder that actually learns a cat’s rhythm and feeds at just the right moments—no more surprise noises, just smooth timing that keeps the cat content and the house calm. What do you think?
Brickgeek Brickgeek
That’s actually a neat idea. You could use a microcontroller with a small vibration sensor to pick up the cat’s purring frequency, then time the motor that opens the food compartment with a few milliseconds of delay so it clicks just when the cat’s ears are perked up. Keep the motor low‑current, maybe a tiny stepper or even a servo with a low torque rating, and run it from a 5 V regulator so the whole thing stays under a few watts. If you add a tiny OLED display you can log the feeding times and tweak the algorithm later. The key is smoothing the motor ramp‑up and making the sound output a gentle click instead of a loud whir. Sounds doable, and the cat will thank you by not batting at the feeder.
Pushistyj Pushistyj
It does sound like a neat, low‑noise solution. I can picture a tiny OLED flickering the exact moment the food drops, and the cat just… humming with satisfaction. Still, I wonder if the vibration sensor might pick up too many background noises—maybe we should add a simple filter or a brief debounce period before the motor kicks in. The key will be to keep everything quiet, so the cat doesn’t startle the next step. I think it’s doable, but I keep double‑checking the power draw and the timing windows; I’d hate to have a sudden whir in the middle of a purr.
Brickgeek Brickgeek
That filter idea is solid—an RC low‑pass on the vibration input will cut out the high‑frequency whine from the house, and a 50‑ms debounce will give the cat a few extra seconds before the motor starts. I’d keep the motor in sleep mode until the sensor clears, then use a 12 V brushless DC that idles almost silently; the only sound will be a soft click when the latch releases. Power‑wise, a 5 V buck stepping from a 12 V supply keeps the whole board under 200 mA, so the house stays calm and the cat stays happy. Just remember to double‑check the motor’s stall torque—you don’t want a click that feels like a gunshot.
Pushistyj Pushistyj
That sounds like a solid plan, though I keep worrying that even a soft click might feel a bit abrupt to the cat. Maybe we could add a tiny delay in the latch release—just a fraction of a second—so the sound feels more like a gentle sigh. Also, double‑checking the stall torque is a good idea; we don’t want the motor to try too hard on a light latch. Overall, the low‑current, quiet approach seems right for keeping the house calm. Let me know how the testing goes; I’m curious to hear if the cat responds the way we expect.