Automatic Pet Fountain/First completed project.
This is my first completed project.· Please let me know what you think and any ideas on improvements!
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···· This project came about from trying to come up with a way of keeping the dog and cat watered at all times.· I had bought a pet water bowl that used a 5 gallon water jug that fit on top of the bowl, kinda like a water cooler for pets.· It was nice for awhile, but refilling involved the sink in the basement or a garden hose outside.· That got old real quick.· I·thought about using a simple float valve, but where I live in Indiana, our water has a VERY large amount of lime in the water.· Float valves used in our area are notoriously unreliable because of the lime and I don't want my house flooded when I'm not home.
···· I found Parallax a few years ago and for the last two I have been teaching myself programing with the Basic Stamp.· When trying to fix my water problem for my dog and cat, I realized that I had a box full of Parallax stuff and I had not built a practical and permanent project yet.· So, just for fun I decided to build an automated water bowl for my pets.· With lots of laughs from others, and a lot of determination on my part, I dug out my Professional Development Board and got started experimenting, building, and testing each system involved with my project.
··· My original goal was to reliably keep the water bowl full·without flooding my house.··It gets its water supply from a ice maker water line kit that I purchased·from the hardware store.· What I thought would be a simple project turned into quite a challenge for me since I am still very much a novice.· But thanks to everyone on the Parallax Forums my project was a success!
···· I built a float and water valve assembly that fits on the water bowl in place of the original 5 gallon water jug.· I built what I call a logic board that consists·of eight LED's, four expansion headers, and a·transistor that·supplies the ground for the switches and LED's.· The board allows me to visually see what is going on with the switches and provides a connection for the servo and anything else·that uses a 3 wire connection.
··· The control box is built using a Board of Education and a BS2.· It includes two push buttons and an serial·LCD display.· It is powered by a 12v wall wart.· I built a battery backup circuit into the control box·to prevent flooding if the power went out during a refill cycle.· The control box is modular and I can use it for·another project if I choose too,·all I would need to connect is a DB25 connector.
··· The program first checks the power status and if it finds that it is running on battery power, it closes the water valve if open and·shuts the system down. It then·goes to sleep for about an hour and then rechecks for main power.··If main power returns, it goes·back to normal operation.
···· It checks the status of the·valve and float switches along with power status·about every 5 seconds and if the float is in the empty position it automatically·refills the bowl.· If for some reason during the refill cycle a switch fails on the float, it will timeout, close the water valve and blink the logic board LED's until reset·to alert someone of a problem.
·····The program also includes·a main menu for the LCD·consisting of "Run", "Maintenance", "History", and "Diagnostic".· In the maintenance menu it allows me to lock the system, so I can remove it from the bowl for cleaning without flooding the house.· I can then reset the refill counter when unlocking the system for normal service.· In the history menu it displays how many times it has refilled itself·between·cleanings and how many times since a hard reset.· I wrote the program to write the lifetime refills to eeprom, but have not decided to allow it yet, so the required code to do·so is commented out.· The diagnostic· menu provides the ability to manually open and close the water valve and and the ability to manually check the float operation by observing the LED's on the logic board.
···· I had a LOT of fun building this project and learned a lot more than I thought I would.··The whole thing is probably overkill, but it frees me from having to worry about keeping my pets watered.· A second version will be in the works·someday and I would like to include pet detection with IR sensors and pet id with RFID tags.· This would allow me to track the frequency·and duration of visits to the water bowl and I can keep better track of their health by monitoring their water intake.· I have just started tinkering with the Propeller and I may decide to make a propeller powered water bowl.
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"If it ain't broke, your not trying"
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···· This project came about from trying to come up with a way of keeping the dog and cat watered at all times.· I had bought a pet water bowl that used a 5 gallon water jug that fit on top of the bowl, kinda like a water cooler for pets.· It was nice for awhile, but refilling involved the sink in the basement or a garden hose outside.· That got old real quick.· I·thought about using a simple float valve, but where I live in Indiana, our water has a VERY large amount of lime in the water.· Float valves used in our area are notoriously unreliable because of the lime and I don't want my house flooded when I'm not home.
···· I found Parallax a few years ago and for the last two I have been teaching myself programing with the Basic Stamp.· When trying to fix my water problem for my dog and cat, I realized that I had a box full of Parallax stuff and I had not built a practical and permanent project yet.· So, just for fun I decided to build an automated water bowl for my pets.· With lots of laughs from others, and a lot of determination on my part, I dug out my Professional Development Board and got started experimenting, building, and testing each system involved with my project.
··· My original goal was to reliably keep the water bowl full·without flooding my house.··It gets its water supply from a ice maker water line kit that I purchased·from the hardware store.· What I thought would be a simple project turned into quite a challenge for me since I am still very much a novice.· But thanks to everyone on the Parallax Forums my project was a success!
···· I built a float and water valve assembly that fits on the water bowl in place of the original 5 gallon water jug.· I built what I call a logic board that consists·of eight LED's, four expansion headers, and a·transistor that·supplies the ground for the switches and LED's.· The board allows me to visually see what is going on with the switches and provides a connection for the servo and anything else·that uses a 3 wire connection.
··· The control box is built using a Board of Education and a BS2.· It includes two push buttons and an serial·LCD display.· It is powered by a 12v wall wart.· I built a battery backup circuit into the control box·to prevent flooding if the power went out during a refill cycle.· The control box is modular and I can use it for·another project if I choose too,·all I would need to connect is a DB25 connector.
··· The program first checks the power status and if it finds that it is running on battery power, it closes the water valve if open and·shuts the system down. It then·goes to sleep for about an hour and then rechecks for main power.··If main power returns, it goes·back to normal operation.
···· It checks the status of the·valve and float switches along with power status·about every 5 seconds and if the float is in the empty position it automatically·refills the bowl.· If for some reason during the refill cycle a switch fails on the float, it will timeout, close the water valve and blink the logic board LED's until reset·to alert someone of a problem.
·····The program also includes·a main menu for the LCD·consisting of "Run", "Maintenance", "History", and "Diagnostic".· In the maintenance menu it allows me to lock the system, so I can remove it from the bowl for cleaning without flooding the house.· I can then reset the refill counter when unlocking the system for normal service.· In the history menu it displays how many times it has refilled itself·between·cleanings and how many times since a hard reset.· I wrote the program to write the lifetime refills to eeprom, but have not decided to allow it yet, so the required code to do·so is commented out.· The diagnostic· menu provides the ability to manually open and close the water valve and and the ability to manually check the float operation by observing the LED's on the logic board.
···· I had a LOT of fun building this project and learned a lot more than I thought I would.··The whole thing is probably overkill, but it frees me from having to worry about keeping my pets watered.· A second version will be in the works·someday and I would like to include pet detection with IR sensors and pet id with RFID tags.· This would allow me to track the frequency·and duration of visits to the water bowl and I can keep better track of their health by monitoring their water intake.· I have just started tinkering with the Propeller and I may decide to make a propeller powered water bowl.
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"If it ain't broke, your not trying"
1632 x 1232 - 478K
1632 x 1232 - 417K
1632 x 1232 - 487K
1632 x 1232 - 513K
Comments
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"If it ain't broke, your not trying"
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"WOAH! that wasn't supposed to happen!"
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"If it ain't broke, your not trying"
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Shawn Lowe
When all else fails.....procrastinate!
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·I had a LOT of fun building this project and learned a lot more than I thought I would.··The whole thing is probably overkill,
You might think this project is·an "OVER KILL"· but the more important thing is how much you learn
What a great project ·
I have thought of doing the same thing I have one those watering bowl for my dog
Can you post a parts list of what parts and where to get them· thanks for your help·
You could use a DS1302 time chip to keep your History I can help with how to write to the memory of that chip you just need a Super Cap on the chip
1· fard· cap would hold the data ·for weeks
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·Now wanting to learn Spin· Thanks for any·
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Sam
Post Edited (sam_sam_sam) : 7/28/2010 12:43:43 AM GMT
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"If it ain't broke, your not trying"
As far as a parts...I used a lot of stuff I already had.· I did get some stuff from my local Radio Shack, they're slim pickin's anymore, but they do have some basic stuff.· I used a board of education only because I think I have four of them (is it bad when you can't remember what you have?) and it was easy.· I used a BS2 and quickly found out how to "trim the fat" on my program, not a lot of space to work with on large programs but on the second version I will either·use a stamp with more memory or use a Prop. if I ever learn the one I have.
The voltage reg's and the three wire cables came from Parallax.· I couldn't sorce a optocoupler for the battery backup circuit locally and didn't want to order one.· So I did what I had to do....make one!
I can try to come up with a detailed parts list (should have kept track of it).· I built this in my spare time a couple hours a night after working 10 hour days at work for about 3 months.· Never thought of keeping track of parts, didn't think anyone would take interest in it.
The float switch setup is not my favorite, but it works 99.5% of the time.· The second version will either use two sets of terminals working on water conductivity or I will just use an e-tape liquid level sensor.· The sensor looks to be the most reliable but is more than what I want to spend, but then...I did put a lot of pricey parts in a "pet water bowl", why stop now.
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"If it ain't broke, your not trying"
May I offer the following suggestion for your 2nd revision?
Search EBAY for: 12VDC Electric Solenoid Valve
Example of the exact one I bought back in April for the exact same purpose:
cgi.ebay.com/1-4-Plastic-12VDC-Electric-Solenoid-Valve-Water-Air-/110514643498?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19bb2fa22a
I would guess that you are going to have some mechanical issues down the road (servo driving a mechanical valve). But, I like the overall setup you have!!!!
My project is waiting for the queue to open before I can get to it. I did get as far as to build a drive circuit for the solenoid. It opens and closes with a simple toggle switch. Mine, too, is hooked up via the fridge water supply (after my reverse osmosis filter).
Good luck!
-Parsko
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"If it ain't broke, your not trying"
"If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy"
Automating pets is fun. They are easier to deal with than humans! Poo, food, water, "LET ME OUT" is about it, right? Oh, and pet me, love me, give me all of your attention too!
-Parsko
BTW, you're ahead of me. I have yet to call anything a "finished project". I have lots of unfinished projects that still need some tweakin'...
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·"If you build it, they will come."
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"WOAH! that wasn't supposed to happen!"
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"If it ain't broke, your not trying"
"If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy"
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"If it ain't broke, your not trying"
"If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy"
I just bought three of those solenoid valves.· Don't know why I bought three, but I'm sure I'll find something to use them for.
Thanks for the find!!
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"If it ain't broke, your not trying"
"If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy"
Just one of those things I saw and tried to keep in the back of my mind for just such an instance.
If anyone has any ideas or suggestions for APF2 or addons for APFx(new name after major software revision, search Automatic Pet Fountain X for details) please let me know! I would love to hear anyones ideas!
BTW sprinklers solenoids valves are 24 volt AC