Overview
The scope of this project was to build a wheelchair-mounted phone-activated dog treat dispenser. I worked collaboratively with Owen Kent to develop the solution.
Solution
The resulting dog treat dispenser is battery powered with the battery charge indicator both on the machine and displayed in the UI. It has the ability to change the speed of the motor, controlling how many treats are dispensed. It stops automatically, but should the user need to stop it manually, there is an option for that.
The treat dispenser can operate inside the home when connected to home WiFi or outside the home as its own access point. It is mounted to the wheelchair via 4×4 aluminum extrusions and can be slid on and off the mount via clips. It is coated in resin for sanitary reasons and can be cleaned.
If this product receives enough interest, we will develop it further. As of right now the electronics are modular, presenting the option to add more functionality to the system.
The solution is open source, meaning you can recreate it at home with the correct tools. Resources for building it can be found on Github.
If you would like one built for you, please take the survey.
Owen Kent can be contacted through his website.
Video coming soon!