FED3 Mixer

[Joon Kim]

Dear FED community - Disclaimer: this is not for an event

This is an alternative FED3 design, inspired by Lex's video on YouTube that we have been testing. Instead of using a disk, this model works similarly to a cement mixer. It can hold ~2x more pellets with far less (almost zero) grinding. I designed this to be an upgrade option from the FED3.1 so most of the parts and prints are reusable. 

Attached are the following: Video demonstrating the mixer variant, PDF file for assembly (readme), and stl files. Finally, this variant requires changes to the FED3 library for reduced motor speed and steps, which is attached also (zip file). 

After weeks of torture testing, we launched 6 of these mixer variants back in mid-June for animal testing. All 6 have been working 24/7 since (3 of them triple-time as they're in triad housing). As of today, none of them have jammed and we have not been doing any daily maintenance/cleaning of the dispensing mechanism. 

While there are clear advantages, there is some minor disadvantages: The mixer variant is taller, longer, and would not win any design contests. Perhaps not suitable for some cages. I'm sure there is a better design coming soon...  Double dispensing is also a possibility, but in my experience only if the hopper is too full or if 2 pellets ride up the same well. 

Thanks

Joon 

[Joon Kim]

Files attached. The library files are not in zip (sorry) but provided are the cpp and h files (normally in SRC). I am unable to post the video due to size (i think)

[Joon Kim]

Video!

[Lex Kravitz]

Joon this is super cool how you've integrated this in FED3!  Thanks for the detailed description, files, and photos.  Here's the video Joon mentioned if anyone is curious.  If anyone else tries it please post your experience!

On Thursday, August 15, 2024 at 2:21:10 AM UTC-5 Joon Kim wrote:

Video!