Chicken Tracking with QB
Here's my latest cause for Quick Base celebration: A while back I made a Quick Base app for tracking my flock of chickens and supply inventory, but just incorporated RFID scanning to help move towa...
Forum Discussion
Hi Chelsea,
That's pretty much exactly what I was thinking for that, or maybe having two scanners, close to each other in order to sort of determine a direction of travel of the chickens, to ensure that they're actually in and didn't just stop in the door before wandering back out. Another thought I had was to somehow wire up their roost to detect when all the chickens have gone up to sleep, and use that to ensure that they're all in and ready for the door to be closed. In talking with a couple friends, the ideas of weight sensors on the roost, or even object detection with a camera that's already out there could be a way too. We have a lot of predators around here, so keeping that coop door closed at night is very important!
The chickens I have currently are usually in before it's too dark, and I think for them I could probably get away with closing and opening it just on a time schedule, but ultimately it'd be nice to know that nobody gets locked outside accidentally. You're right though, for opening the door, it could be just as simple as even programming in the time based on normal sunrise for that time of year.
Also, your mom has quail, ducks and turkeys too? I'm very jealous! Ducks and turkeys are a lot of fun!
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Steve Davidson
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That's pretty much exactly what I was thinking for that, or maybe having two scanners, close to each other in order to sort of determine a direction of travel of the chickens, to ensure that they're actually in and didn't just stop in the door before wandering back out. Another thought I had was to somehow wire up their roost to detect when all the chickens have gone up to sleep, and use that to ensure that they're all in and ready for the door to be closed. In talking with a couple friends, the ideas of weight sensors on the roost, or even object detection with a camera that's already out there could be a way too. We have a lot of predators around here, so keeping that coop door closed at night is very important!
The chickens I have currently are usually in before it's too dark, and I think for them I could probably get away with closing and opening it just on a time schedule, but ultimately it'd be nice to know that nobody gets locked outside accidentally. You're right though, for opening the door, it could be just as simple as even programming in the time based on normal sunrise for that time of year.
Also, your mom has quail, ducks and turkeys too? I'm very jealous! Ducks and turkeys are a lot of fun!
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Steve Davidson
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Thanks so much for the info Steve! We're just finishing the coop build right now and I have a Pi sitting on my kitchen table waiting for this project to move into the automated door stage. The waterer was a fun simple build. It definitely keeps the mess in check. Now if only I could find a feeder style that they don't immediately empty onto the ground... Anyway, there are some things ahead of the RFID bands and scanners. It's a work in progress but the info you shared was a good orientation. Thanks for that! I'll keep you posted on our progress and thanks again for the inspiration!
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Maria Peralta
Quick Base
Cambridge MA
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Maria Peralta
Quick Base
Cambridge MA
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