Design and Construction of a Microcontroller-based Automatic Fish feeding device

Abstract

This paper presents the design, construction and demonstration of an automatic fish feeder. It is a microcontroller-based system. This system is designed to dispense a predetermined amount of fish feed into an aquarium at a particular time each day. The device consists of a cylindrical can, distributing tubes and a stand. The dispensing of food is controlled by the use of a stepper motor, which is situated under the canister. A timer controlled switch is used to control the time at which the motor rotates, by a program burned into the microcontroller. The fish feeder was successfully fabricated and tested. It dispenses food automatically at set preset times. It is expected that this device will enhance the fish farming efforts of the local farmers, especially the armature farmers who combine fish farming with other businesses.