Week 5: Back to the Arduino (Official Switch to Digital Approach)

After considering realizing the difficulty and the danger that would come with working with high the high voltage that would be sent to the timer switch from the outlet, we decided against using the timer switch. The main problem was as I said, the issue with the danger associated with the high voltage and high amperes, therefore, we went back to using the Arduino. The Arduino will be connected to a motor, which will rotate according to the certain degree angles that we input into the Arduino program.

Format of a sample Arduino code

The initial issue with using the Arduino was that we were unsure on how to place it in the system, but now that we have created a hole in the bottom of the cake pan, we will simply lift the pan and place the Arduino underneath the system. We now realize that the Arduino language is a very learn-able language with a section where the user has to input the variables and another section where the user has to insert a prompt that will continue to loop. The Arduino is perfect for our pet feeder system. However, we will need a servo motor for this situation because with that, the Arduino will send pulses to the motor, which will rotate at preset angles. Making a simple DC motor rotate at certain angles and time intervals, would be quite difficult. Therefore, we will use a servo, which we will speak about later.