One thing I see at the very bottom, where it says "Tutorial, here is a video:" There isn't a video, just an image.
At at end of that sentence there is a "//todo".
DIY ESP32 based chicken coop door. Control based on time, light or via app
41–50 of 62 posts
Re: DIY ESP32 based chicken coop door. Control based on time, light or via app
#42I did this in the Raspberry Pi 1 era. * Pi for timing/wifi/status/webserver. * Opened at 8am, closed at civil twilight. Or whenever I hit the button on the webserver, or the switch board. * Limit switches. * Mechanical swing lock for raccoon protection * Electric drill + rope for the vertical sliding door * Relay for direction, power mosfet for the drive controller. * Intermediate board between the 3.3v controller an…
What happens if the door closes at night and one or more chickens aren't already inside? Is that a thing that happens? Do they pretty much always go inside at the same time every evening? Is it bad if one gets left out alone? I know nothing about chicken coops.
It happens that one might get left out and it's no problem unless a predator shows up :)
Re: DIY ESP32 based chicken coop door. Control based on time, light or via app
#43A project I've always toyed with in my head is a fancier version that would count / verify the checks have all entered the coop at closing time and warn you if not. With my parents coop occasionally a chicken will decide to brave the night outside, often to disastrous consequences. Figuring out how to build a low-energy version is challenging, but necessary since the whole system runs off small solar panels and a 12v…
I had that problem with the camper chickens (that end up getting eaten by raccoons) and also sometimes additional guests like possums or skunks would enter the coop.
In the end I always closed the coop at night manually and let the auto coop door open in the morning, that way I could sleep in in the summer.
Next level of coolness would be a full coop monitor with non-chicken intruder detection. Alas, all my chickens have passed on by now so it'll remain a fantasy.
Re: DIY ESP32 based chicken coop door. Control based on time, light or via app
#44Nice. However the bigger problem for me is the mechanics. What motor do you use? Actually I think you also need some gear.
We and many other people we know are using the Kerbl (not related to KSP) chicken coop door which is quite expensive (around 120 Euro).
https://d3w207ykk8w4lq.cloudfront.net/public/thumbnail/33/a3...
You can see in the image it uses quite intricate mechanics with a lever and a spring. It's also supposed to detect a stuck chicken, however that has never happened to us (or we wouldn't have noticed because the Kerbl has silently resolved the problem).
Re: DIY ESP32 based chicken coop door. Control based on time, light or via app
#45I did this in the Raspberry Pi 1 era. * Pi for timing/wifi/status/webserver. * Opened at 8am, closed at civil twilight. Or whenever I hit the button on the webserver, or the switch board. * Limit switches. * Mechanical swing lock for raccoon protection * Electric drill + rope for the vertical sliding door * Relay for direction, power mosfet for the drive controller. * Intermediate board between the 3.3v controller an…
What happens if the door closes at night and one or more chickens aren't already inside? Is that a thing that happens? Do they pretty much always go inside at the same time every evening? Is it bad if one gets left out alone? I know nothing about chicken coops.
If a chicken isn't in the coop by the time the sun is setting, then they don't want to be in the coop and you would have to manually intervene anyways. It's always the same chicken(s) too. They want to roost in a tree or on the roof or something. If one of your chickens develops this habit, the best way to break it is to keep them locked in the coop for a few days as soon as you realize what's happening.
But barring that situation, chickens always go in the coop. I can tell it's 15 minutes to sunset when the chickens start ambling up the ramp.
Re: DIY ESP32 based chicken coop door. Control based on time, light or via app
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, if I did it I'd want the area to be fenced in because one of my neighbors is nosy. It's a 1/4 acre plot, so not exactly a huge amount of land. I know that my neighbors down the street have chickens because I occasionally hear them, but their yard is completely fenced in. I only know them well enough for casual greetings when we see them in passing, and there's a language barrier preventing more in depth convers…
Do you think there is a reason they are getting away with ignoring the rules? Maybe you could too - just ask the neighbours first?
They might not know that the rules exist at all -- you have to go looking to find them. I'm sure that they're getting away with it because nobody cares and the yard is fenced in and nobody sees the chickens and because none of their next door neighbors care.
I don't talk to them much besides "hello", as communication is difficult since they don't speak much English and I don't speak much (any) Swahili.
The coop is somewhere in here: https://i.imgur.com/t6FqF6G.png
Re: DIY ESP32 based chicken coop door. Control based on time, light or via app
#47I love projects like these, since its typically a neophyte to embedded hardware design and programming a microcontroller.
But just once, I'd love to see a hobby project from somebody who already knows what they're doing, but is using this to try out some ridiculously inappropriate software technique.
Forget Arduino on an ESP32, I want to see somebody do this with FreeRTOS.
It's been on my todo list for a long time. Unfortunately, we have too many predators in our area to let the chickens roam free unsupervised (I lost 5 last year to the same coyote, and I can hear the bald eagles squeaking most clear days), so its a solution in search of a problem.
Re: DIY ESP32 based chicken coop door. Control based on time, light or via app
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have 12 on a 1/2 acre plot, about 2/3rds of which is backyard they can access (so call it 1/3 acre of roaming). That amount seems more than ample, though these are pretty bougie chickens. Four in even 1/8 acre should be fine.
The minimum square footage per “cage free” chicken is only 1.5 sq ft, (in California, which passed a ballot initiative to increase it to that number) https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_12,_Farm_Anim... So, 1/8 acre could hold 3,630 “cage free” chickens, in theory (I am not condoning this). In you don’t need much space to keep chickens happy. However, they produce a lot of dust, and can’t be kept in a hous…
> However, they produce a lot of dust
This was actually the most surprising thing about first time chicken ownership. I was expecting the poop, I wasn't expecting the dust and the dust bathing. They will pick one or more parts of the yard and crater it and use it for their dust baths, meaning that soil will transport elsewhere and you'll need to replenish the sand. You can kinda suggest where they do it (they prefer overhung spots that don't get rain, so it stays dry and dusty) but like cats and cat beds, they decide where to do it. I intended the under-coop space to be used for this, but they decided they like under my gazebo-tent was preferable.
Re: DIY ESP32 based chicken coop door. Control based on time, light or via app
#49I did this in the Raspberry Pi 1 era. * Pi for timing/wifi/status/webserver. * Opened at 8am, closed at civil twilight. Or whenever I hit the button on the webserver, or the switch board. * Limit switches. * Mechanical swing lock for raccoon protection * Electric drill + rope for the vertical sliding door * Relay for direction, power mosfet for the drive controller. * Intermediate board between the 3.3v controller an…
What happens if the door closes at night and one or more chickens aren't already inside? Is that a thing that happens? Do they pretty much always go inside at the same time every evening? Is it bad if one gets left out alone? I know nothing about chicken coops.
It wasn't really an issue, They'd go in between sunset and one of the twilight light levels, and that was that. When we did it without the automatic door, there was a lot more chasing type manual labor just getting them in if it was early, or we'd forget and it would be super late.
Didn't ever lose one at night, but there were definitely daytime predators that were an issue. (mainly raptors)
Re: DIY ESP32 based chicken coop door. Control based on time, light or via app
#50A design with limit switches instead of counting turns seems like it would be much more reliable. e.g. https://www.floweringelbow.org/automated-door-from-an-old-wi... That way the software can be nearly stateless: 1. Check time and determine desired state (open or closed) 2. Compare desired state against limit switches and run motor until the limit switch is hit (or it times out which is an error) On the other hand,…
Chickens are incredibly dirty animals. The limit switches would probably be fouled (fowled?) pretty quickly. Commercial versions of this can measure motor load (via current), but still require manual calibration. I wonder if they thought they could get away with manual calibration, but couldn’t make it reliable. I think these people are the market leaders: https://www.chickenguard.com/ Note that the commercial versio…
Problems I've had with the chickenguard (I still use it, and probably won't stop, it's good enough with modifications)
The tracks will get warped over time if exposed to moisture. I don't live in a particularly wet place, and it's partially covered, but the wooden tracks warped, and the door would get jammed.
The string will get tangled and quickly finish off the batteries if the door is jammed or the batteries get low.
Modifications made:
I routed a painted solid wood doorway to provide a wider track to prevent the track from warping, and to improve tolerance to dirt, leaves and twigs, which has eliminated door jams.
Battery replacements every 6 months are now on my calendar.