Build Instructions

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  Step 1

  I just did not have the time to draw this out on fritz, so i went old school. I also added the prices i paid for each item. just to give you an idea of the cost of the project.

  Key/Legend

  Signal Lines: The green lines are all signal wires that hook up to the digital pins. I did not use any analog pins in this build.

  Positive Lines: The red lines are the 5v and 3.3v lines. The Openlog calls for 3.3v so i used the Arduino 3.3 pin to supply the power. The WS2812 calls for 5v, but can run on 3.3v however by doing that I am pushing more ampage through the WS2812. Since I am only using one rgb light at half power, it is fine. If I were to use more than 1 light i would recommend using the 5v line. I will change this on the next Rev. you always want to stick to the power requirements of the hardware as suggested by the manufacturer.

  The Switch: okay so the switch that i used in the diagram, is all over the internet. It is the basic pricipal of an open and closed circuit. At the time of this writing, exactly 2 months after the build was completed. I cant for the life of figure out why i attached it to the reset pin. LOL. but it all works so that's good enough for prototyping right now. I would encourage you to just look into this and make your own switch because i don't think i drew it clearly. I took lots of pics though. have fun! :)

  Servo: the servo is working off the power from the Arduino. so it is not that powerful. I used some 3 in 1 oil to make the button slide easier. the next gen it will have its own power supply of 6 volts and all the amps it can handle.

  Arduino Uno: the Uno I am using has the MC chip that i can program, and then remove to install in a project permanently. When i finally get done with the science side of this project. The feeder will be programmed to come on every few hours for 5 minutes to let the fish hit the feeder bar as many times as they can.

  SparkFun Open Log: Is absolutely amazing. What a great logger! so easy to use. no fuss no muss. right out of the box it starts logging to a txt file that it creates on the sd card. It is programmable in all sorts of ways to better help with data collection. As I become more familiar with the logger i am sure i will be able to streamline my code to get the data i want in the format i need. without any intervention from me in the post processing stages.

  Bell housing: the reason i used a fishing lure type of device was from a story I once heard. I had heard a story about fish hatchery fish. The small fish in the big open pools have a little lure type of device that when they hit it in the water it drops down pellets. This teaches the fish to hit lures when they are released into lakes and streams. LOL. kind of funny to hear that the fishing game is rigged, or maybe its just a story. Either way, i decided to take this approach. It was extremely successful!

  Okay i think that covers all the issues and thoughts i had while going through the hardware portion of the build.

  Here is the code for this project and maybe some more clarity.

  http://www.instructables.com/id/Fish-feeding-themselves/
  

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