12/6/2025 - Doing research

Im looking online for parts that arent too expensive or too power hungry who could do the job, ways to be able to have it battery powered, usable materials to keep it low cost and what type of design i need to make this all work

12/7/2025 12:11 AM - more research

Ok so apparently, Chatgpt Api calls need a payed subscription.

So that leaves me with two choices.
A) Use an AI chip integrated camera (very expensive)
B) Use a raspberry pi 4B 2gb ram (less expensive, more accurate and more power efficient as ive outsourced the processing)

Obviously im going with option B, so atleast thats one of the thousands of parts I need to figure out, out of the way.

Oh also I will be looking at the prices from a usd standpoint cuz I plan on using this project for tickets

12/7/2025 12:18 AM - Created repo

Just that really, not much else to say.

The FitnessGram™ Pacer Test is a multistage aerobic capacity test that progressively gets more difficult as it continues. The 20 meter pacer test will begin in 30 seconds. Line up at the start. The running speed starts slowly, but gets faster each minute after you hear this signal. [beep] A single lap should be completed each time you hear this sound. [ding] Remember to run in a straight line, and run as long as possible. The second time you fail to complete a lap before the sound, your test is over. The test will begin on the word start. On your mark, get ready, start.

12/7/2025 1 PM - Decided on the details.

The entire aparatus will be made mostly from laser cut wood panels as far as i can manage, the legs will be 90 degree bent aluminium parts that will be screwed onto the wooden box to help keep it up.

The top will have either a simple lock attached to it to prevent the opening of the food storage by any passerby, or will have an automatic electric lock operatable remotely upon request via buttomn by trusted individuals, whichever proves safer and or more doable.

The dispenser itself on the outside will be kept simple, a long rectangle box with a hole on the front, and a food bowl attached right under the whole to the box itself.

Optionally I might include a water dispenser, im not sure of that part yet.

It will have a motion sensor detect passerbys, in an attempt to be more power effeicient.

When a passerby is detected, the pi will capture a screenshot, upload it to chatgpt and request it to identify wether or not it is an animal or a human, and via the guide in the prompt, ask it how much to feed based on its size.

That will be rate limited to once per 5-10 minutes so that the machine doesnt exhaust all of its prompt tokens when multiple people are passing by.

The feeder will be powered by a motor.

The entirety of the wood panels will need some sort of coating to not rot under those conditions.

And most importantly, It will have a food and water level sensing strip (custom pcb most likely) and will message the owner to refill it via sms

And finally, the whole thing will access the internet and send text messages using a sim card module.

Image not representative of the final choice in pcb,
Honestly I might make that a custom pcb, with a link to a non-custom alternative. Im not sure yet.

12/7/2025 7 PM - Decided on Wood panel details and arbitrary design

I landed on a 0.6 mm wood panel thickness as its just about the strength i need for this project.

I made the arbitrary box design with the interlocking wood sections, lid and text.

Next thing im going to be making the electronics section alongside the models for the dog food bowl holder and legs (aluminium).

The feeder dispense hole will be on the fron panel.

12/8/2025 2 AM - 5 hours of labor on modeling

Spent hours just modelling the housing compartment for the feeder and electronics.

I did NOT realize going into this that i had to reflect every little change onto the other thousands of parts.

Heres what that looks like

Tomorrow im adding these to the assembly to check for modeling errors

12/8/2025 9 AM - Decided on more features, What motor to use and other detais

I decided to swap the small camera with a cheap 1080p ir equipped camera would allow us to record a video of the animal when they come to eat the food.

As you see, My campus is close to the forest so we get squirrels, hogs, deer and other cool animals which normally dont come out at day time.
So I decided it would be an amazing idea to capture a video of them at night to watch later on.

Also decided to make a downward intake and outtake with a mesh on it to reduce water from getting in the vents for the electronics compartment.

12/8/2025 1 PM - Made a needed materials list

Made a needed mterials list, chose a dimmable light, decided to ditch the power connector for remote service, and other details, and re-made the front and back panels to have the exit hole and service door.

Im going to do the assembly next to make sure everything fits together.

(were gonna need some good amount of sealant. be it for the electronics be it for the food)

12/8/2025 7 PM - Bad news-ish

Ive been doing the assembly.......
I thought I had modeled some of the models wrong.....
So I modified them to correct them.
After messing EVERY part up,I realize its because I had assembled ONE part in the wrong place so when I "corrected" the other pieces, I accidentally messed up the files for every part.

I went bac and forth manually editing every single parameter of every part seperately, coming back to see them askew somehow, going back to fix them, coming back to see them wrong,

I even remade a few of the parts from scratch and still nothing, until a few hours after which i realized.

This is going to take hours to fix.

I cant believe this.

Im straigh up going to have to straight up re-model most of the parts from scratch

I cant deal with allat after this so Im going to be making the github repo for now.

12/11/2025 10 AM - Gave up on the light

Honestly instead of buying a 5-10 dollar light when we have an ir webcam JUST so the animals can see the device or food sounds slightly like a bad idea to me

So I will be switching it out for leds coming out of drilled holes from the front panel, sealed with the sealant and connected via female to female jumpers.

12/11/2025 11 AM - Re adjusted the BOM and uploaded to repo

I swapped out some links for general generic components for the sake of availability and cheapness

Then finally uploaded the list to the repo

Next is assembly

12/19/2025 - Remade the models

Spent hours and genuine hours re-doing all of the parts from scratch, putting them into the assembly and then re-editing them accordingly when something was off

im happy its donw now though

now im going to focus on a few other stuff

(btw i did this kinda long ago, forgot to upload the journal; so that should explain why im suddenly logging several hours in a single minute)