He Computerized His Chicken Coop

He Computerized His Chicken Coop BALERS Brian Buhler added a door opener triggered by a light sensor to his chicken coop and temperature sensors that turn a heat lamp on and off But he didn’t stop there He connected the chicken coop to the internet so he can control it from wherever he is Of course when you can 3D print and computerize a mousetrap Vol 45 No 5 automating a chicken coop is easy “I started out with a linear actuator to open and close the coop door ” says Buhler “I wired it to a couple of relays controlled by a microcontroller with a toggle switch to open or close the door ” Once he had that part of the update working Buhler added temperature sensors inside and outside the coop He then added a display screen so he could see the temperatures He also added another relay wired to an outlet to which he plugged in a heat lamp “I programmed the Arduino to turn on the power to the outlet when the temperature gets below 25 degrees ” says Buhler “That turns on the heat lamp ” Keeping his chickens warm in the subarctic climate of southeastern Alaska is important Buhler’s area averages 30 days or so of subzero temperatures Not content with what he had done Buhler added a Raspberry Pi RPI single-board computer to the mix It has an ethernet connection Bluetooth and multiple USB ports It also has a built-in web server “I thought I’d build a webpage on it so I could open and close the chicken coop via the internet instead of going out to the coop to do it ” explains Buhler Buhler notes that he has learned a lot doing the project which has run flawlessly for 2 years He would be glad to share “If anyone wants more information on our Chicken Coop Automation project drop us an email and we’ll post some schematics and code snippets ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Brian Buhler 4300 S Well Site Rd Wasilla Alaska 99654 buhlermousetrap@gmail com; www Buhler3DPrints com

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