The ZotFeeder (Not a Real Project!  For illustraton only)

by Abe Lin (CpE), Jo Smith (EE), Sara Martinez (CSE)
mentor: Prof. Y. Zott, EECS

System Overview

Abstract

The ZotFeeder is a system that automatically feeds a pet anteater based on the goals set by its owner.  It consists of three parts: the feeder itself, the mobile app, and the cloud server.  The feeder subsystem has a proximity sensor that detects the presense of a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tag on the collar of the anteater and responds by opening up a small door to let out a number of ants for the anteater to eat.  The owner uses a mobile app to specify the number of ants to feed each time as well as to connect to the built-in camera on the feeder to visually monitor the anteater at home.  The feeding statistics is uploaded to a cloud server for data analytics by ant farms to estimate the seasonal demand of ants.  

Challenges

• How to lure the ants out of the ant colony into the mouth of the anteater
• How to precisely control the number of ants per feed
• How to precisely estimate the distance of the anteater based on the signal strength of the proximity tag so that ants are not released unless the anteater is close enough.
• How to properly feed multiple anteaters from one machine without starving some of them