Electronics

The rear of the feeder contains all the electronics. They are protected by a plexiglass door that is secured with a clasp.

Parts List

Motor Circuit

The motor circuit is very simple. We left out the Arduino in the diagram, though in actuality the ethernet shield sits atop the Uno, which is powered via one of the two power supplies. The barrel jack in the circuit above is connected to the second power supply. The main point here is that the servo and the arduino should have a common ground, as shown in the diagram.

Wi-Fi Router

The TP-LINK router is a stunning little gadget. It has three ports:

• 1. A micro-USB port for power. The router comes with a cable + AC/USB power supply.

  2. An ethernet port. Connect this to the Ethernet shield.

  3. A USB port for a “USB 3G modem”, which only supports USB2 devices. Connect this to the webcam (the LifeCam VX-700 is a USB2 device).

See the later Wi-Fi Router section to see how it is configured.