Implementation of an IoT based Pet Care System

Abstract

As pet ownership is soaring each year, the demands for a higher quality of pet care products are increasing as well. This has driven the development of the Internet of Things (IoT) technology in this field. Using the technology of IoT, pet owners can remotely track their pet's activity and location, monitor their pet's health condition or even interact with their pets. All these smart pet care products are playing an indispensable role in the pet owner's daily life. In the present project, we apply the IoT technology to implement an integrated system including pet food feeder, water dispenser, and litter box, which are the three most fundamental elements that pet owners will be concerned about when they are busy or away from their pets. The three subsystems are connected to the local network with Arduino Uno boards and Wi-Fi modules. Furthermore, the data collected from each sensor are processed and displayed on a smartphone application. Thus, pet owners through only one single interface, they can obtain all the information regarding pet's food consumption, water consumption, as well as defecation timing, duration, and frequency. Additionally, a controlling function is also enabled in the application for the pet owners to dispense food anytime and anywhere. An overall statistical chart with the mentioned values is presented in the application, updating from time to time. With this pet care system in a smartphone application, we provide pet owners an efficient, convenient and low-cost tool for pet care.