Now for the fun stuff. Let's add some electronics to this contraption!

Mount Servo Motor

 

Mark placement of motor with a pencil.

 

Use hot glue to stick the motor in place.

 

Bend paper clip at point where it will connect to servo arm.

 

Trim excess off paper clip.

Poke the end of the paper clip through the servo arm. Our gate is now motorized!

Connect to CRICKIT

Connect servo to Servo port 1 and alligator clip to Touch pad 1. The other end of the alligator clip will connect to your capacitive touch pad which can be placed anywhere outside the box.

Now is also a good time to connect your battery pack which will power the servo motor.

Capacitive trigger

Cut out a small section from the sheet of Pyralux PCB material (or other conductive substance). This will be the trigger for the servo motor.

You can use anything metallic, even tin foil, but it wont last as long

Clip the other end of the alligator clip to the copper Pyralux. This trigger can be placed anywhere on the outside of the box.

When the cat touches this pad, it will change the capacitance of the pad. As it is connected to the Crickit via a wire with alligator clips, the change in capacitance will register on the Crickit capacitive touch input.

Add a tray (Optional)

If you'd like to add a tray to catch treats as they're dispensed, a large shipping tube or something similar works well.

 

Cut tube down the middle.

 

Using hot glue, stick one half of tube to bottom of box.

This guide was first published on Sep 05, 2018. It was last updated on Mar 28, 2024.

This page (Add Electronics) was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

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