Might This Musical Feeder Train Your Pet to Play Piano?

In case you’ve ever been to a circus, you recognize that we will prepare animals to do some fairly wonderful issues. As B. F. Skinner confirmed the world, reinforcement coaching could be very highly effective. Begin small by reinforcing step one of a trick, then construct that up by including extra steps as you go. That could be a labor-intensive course of, however what may we obtain if we had been to automate it? Might your pet discover ways to do one thing actually spectacular, like play a piano? If that’s doable, then this DIY musical pet feeder would make it occur.

We will’t anticipate a canine or cat to understand music principle and even to learn sheet music, so that is all about memorization. It’s sort of like Simon Says. In principle, the pet would begin by memorizing the primary observe in a sequence. After they press the proper key to set off that observe, the feeder dispenses some meals. After Mr. Mittens figures that out, the complexity can improve to 2 notes. Maintain repeating that course of and shortly Mr. Mittens could as effectively be a Saint Bernard, as a result of he’s principally Beethoven.

This musical pet feeder handles that course of itself with an computerized tutor mode, so you may fill it with meals and chill out within the confidence that your pet is progressing. An ESP32 handles the teachings and generates sound, which it outputs to a speaker via an amplifier module. That ESP32 and the opposite elements, together with the piano key buttons, solder onto a customized PCB. As a result of the ESP32 has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, the proprietor can entry details about their pet’s progress via a smartphone.

The ESP32 additionally controls the motor within the feeder mechanism. That’s 3D-printed and reliably dispenses a constant quantity of dry meals. It’s hidden inside a CNC-cut wooden enclosure that, after all, seems to be like a bit piano. The ol’ ivories are 3D-printed, too.