Monday, December 16, 2013

Electronics

The electronic portion of the feeder consists of the motor controller and the solar charger.  The motor controller needs to power the gearmotor when the door position (DOOR) and the ambient light (LIGHT) are in opposite logical states.  We use a 7486 quad XOR to get this behavior.  A 2n2222 NPN transistor amplifies the logic output to drive the motor current.
Circuit Schematic for Chicken Feeder Controller
Circuit Schematic