Auto Chicken Coop Door

[jthornton]

JT,

Thanks for the invite in the other thread.

OT for a moment: I don't know any code other than G&M (I'm a CNC programmer) but am very interested in learning python and playing around with a RaspberryPi. I'm in the early stages of it all. I haven't even built a coop yet, but want to incorporate some automation from the get go. Obviously you ran power to your coop...did you also run CAT5 or are you wireless? I think I'd like to have a hardwired data connection to my house, is CAT5 the best way to do it?

I see the CAT question has been expertly answered and glad to know there are other Python programmers in the crowd.

Let me know when you get your Raspberry Pi 3 B and I'll get you going quick.

Python is an easy language to learn and there is no need to pay to learn Python as there are just too many good tutorials out there. The biggest thing that trips up beginners is the indentation. Python requires indentation to indicate the next level down so to speak.

JT

 

[schmidty13]

A big thank you to WallerBlake and JT for answering my questions.

JT; I apologize for the thread hijack. Great thread, by the way! I look forward to it growing with hopefully more people contributing their code.

 

[jthornton]

A big thank you to WallerBlake and JT for answering my questions.

JT; I apologize for the thread hijack. Great thread, by the way! I look forward to it growing with hopefully more people contributing their code.

Not really a hijack if your talking about chicken automation IMHO.

JT

 

[schmidty13]

JT; have you seen this video yet? It looks like he has some ideas worth "borrowing".

 

[jthornton]

JT; have you seen this video yet? It looks like he has some ideas worth "borrowing".

I've not seen that video but have seen various versions of that locking mechanism in the past but don't care for that kind of lock. The lock itself seems kinda flaky to me and not reliable as most of them you see stick so you can just imagine what happens in real life with chicken poop and dust flying about every day. That video is one of the rare putube videos that the person stayed on the subject and provided a link to the code so a very good find. Other than the lock mechanism sticking, the door stop is at the bottom and that will fill up with chips and poop just like everything else in the area and eventually prevent the door from closing fully and will be super hard to clean out.

I've had mine send emails and text messages when I'm on vacation and that's pretty cool. Of course if your out of town and you get an email that your door is stuck unless you have a backup buddy you can call to go see what's wrong it does no good. Lucky for me I have a buddy that likes chickens and he takes care of them when we are gone. I'll clone his code for study for sure and thanks for the link.

I looked at his code and it is relying on a command line to tell it when to open/close the door. I prefer my door to open and close based on the parameters I outlined above and know what the local time is as well as the time zone it's in.

Mine also has a small status screen that shows the temperature, humidity, pressure, time and date as well as the open and close times for the door.

Rather than show the finished project and possibly overwhelm anyone trying to follow I'm going to do a step by step showing each step of the project. I'll start with wiring up the relay board and testing the I/O (Inputs and Outputs). I'm wiring up mine this morning

JT

 

[schmidty13]

I'm thinking like you in regards to that locking mechanism. At first I thought it was pretty cool, and I guess I still think it's neat, but for all the reasons you state it just doesn't appear practical for a chicken coop.

I also prefer the way you are doing the open/close using the time. Can yours also do a manual override open/close? I think that could possibly be useful. You'd need a camera to be sure everyone was inside, but you could maybe close the door early if it was cold. Or open the door later than normal if you saw it was raining.

A buddy borrowed me a Pi Zero W. This weekend I'm going to start playing with it and dive into Python.

 

[jthornton]

Hi Mike,

I'll be posting my code as it develops in my github repository. One important feature that I have is manual overrides for both the door and light. The io-test.py is my test code for the inputs and outputs. I used the light override this morning to clean out the coop as I was lazy and didn't get out there before they shut off.

Do you have a PC now, if so what OS (Operating System, Linux, Mac, Windoze) is it? Do you have a monitor with a HDMI plug? Make sure your buddy gives you the mini HDMI to standard HDMI adapter cord that came with the Raspberry Pi Zero. Also you need a keyboard and mouse that is USB. I can get you up and going when you get it in your hands.

Also I have a channel on the IRC (Internet Relay Chat) if you want to chat about chicken automation. You just need to install hexchat and join freenode then join the ##chicken channel.

JT

 

[jthornton]

Well I got the new door almost done and started testing it a bit. Looking good so far... I still need to install the open and closed magnetic switches then on to testing the new code! I used common wood products from the store so duplicating the frame should be easy. The sides are 2x4's the top and spreaders are 1x4's the middle ones are cut to 1 5/8" wide. The vertical parts are just stop molding glued and pinned in place till the glue dries. The door is just 1/4" (really 3/16" thick) hardboard, a 2' x 4' sheet cost $5. I plan on making a door so to speak on the inside top and mount the electronic stuff to it. Probably use some of the left over hardboard for that. I have a CAD model pretty much done I just need to clean it up and make the drawings.



JT

 

[schmidty13]

Looks great, so far! Looks like you have a Kreg jig. Maybe this will be a good excuse to get myself one!

To answer your questions from earlier; Windows 10. No monitor. Keyboard and mouse I'm good on. I have an old laptop and I was hoping to maybe somehow use that screen for the Pi. Not sure yet what to do there. Yep, he did give me the HDMI adapter as well as a small USB adapter. I've been so busy today I haven't even gotten a chance to do anything with it, yet. Pretty soon here I'll try and figure out what the heck I'm doing.

 

[schmidty13]

The hexchat app cost $10, so I passed on that. But it looks like you just go to freenode and join a channel? I think I'm in the right place. haha. This is all new to me.