After waking up many mornings to my cat walking on my face to get me to feed him, I decided to build an automatic feeder. I wanted it to have several features: Weight measurement for portion control Easily adjustable feeding schedule System for identifying the status of the machine Food and water dispensing contained in one unit There are many similar projects on Instructables, Thingiverse, etc. Most use a motor and a paddlewheel cereal dispenser or a servo/motor and auger to dispense the food. Some use other novel means but one feature that was missing in all of the feeders I looked at was a system for measuring the weight of the food that was dispensed. This was of the highest priority in my design because it allows me to accurately adjust portion size to help my cat maintain a healthy weight. Mechanics I started by designing the box and dispensing mechanism. The box is a simple design with a hinged back panel so I can easily access the electronics and mechanisms i...