Hopefully this is a big enough challenge for Ben....
The fish and corals in my reef tank are picky... they like to eat frozen food only. I need an automated way of storing, thawing, and dispensing frozen food into my reef tank. I have been drawing designs of the device for a few years now, but unfortunately I do not have the necessary tools (CNC router, 3d printer) to build the parts or the necessary knowledge of stepper motors and micro controllers necessary to complete the build.
Here are the design requirements...
- A mini freezer capable of storing at least 30 or so 5/8" cubes of food
- A dispenser in the freezer capable of dispensing one cube at a time (I think an Auger or rotating hopper type of dispenser are good options, but I have also thought of modifying an I cube dispenser, a paint ball hopper, a gum ball machine, or even making a frozen bar out of the food and shaving it like a snoopy snow cone machine)
- After the food is dispensed it will need to be thawed in some type of chamber for about 15 minutes or so. The simplest method I came up with is building what can be best described as a mini toilet bowl that is flushed with water from the reef tank
- a way to control the freezer, flush pump, and dispenser motor, probably an Arduino micro controller
It doesn't have to look pretty, but it would be really cool if Ben could build something like this and free me from manually feeding my tank all the time. This will allow me to be away from tank for longer periods of time as well as spend more time with my 4 month old son!
Here is a quick sketch of the Auger/Hopper idea as well as the thawing mechanism...
Here is a Google Sketchup of the vertical hopper idea...
Thanks,
jvk
