tl;dr: my cat was getting lazy, and was developing health issues, so i wanted to make something to trick him into exercising more. I did this by attaching a treat dispenser to a cat wheel, and giving him treats when hes ran certain distances.

This was my entry for the printables smart pet gadget contest. https://www.printables.com/model/1278945-smart-cat-treat-dispenser-for-one-fast-cat-wheel

There were a few back-to-back all nighters right at the end in order to get this submitted in time (managed to submit 7 minutes before the deadline!) - so the code is all kind of lumped in one file. Ill clean the code up in the upcoming weeks, but the short bullet point list of features are:

• Almost entirely 3D printed (other than a motor, 4 bearings, some sensors, and the nuts and bolts
• Detects that the treat level is low before completely running out! no more sad cats that hear the food dispenser going off, only to be left with an empty belly!
• Self hosted wifi configuration page (connect to the AP, go to 192.168.4.1, enter your wifi settings, and it will join your wifi network
• Completely self hosted web UI / API - configure all your settings, vend treats remotely from other smart devices, and track your cats stats!
• MQTT support - connect your treat dispenser to a platform like homeassistant to see graphs of your cats activity and be alerted to when the treat dispenser is almost out of treats.
• simple electronics (no analog components other than resistors for some LED’s)
• cool design features like internal wire channels so theres minimal exposed wiring (other than power, and a single connector to connect a hall effect sensor to the treat dispenser for detecting cat wheel rotation)