Automatic animal feeding system for automatically removing food pod lids
An automatic animal feeding system is provided. Embodiments of the automatic animal feeding system include an automatic food dispenser and a food canister storing food pods. The automatic food dispenser couples to the food canister, receives a food pod form the food canister, removes a cover or lid from the food pod, presents the opened food pod for pet consumption, disposes of the food pod into a disposal compartment that is sealed off from the ambient air, and implements other steps of an automatic feeding process. Aspects of the automatic feeding process can be efficiently implemented, for example, by actuating two motors based on data received from sensors of the automatic animal feeding system. Accordingly, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a compact, control-efficient, self-cleaning automatic animal feeding system that can continuously personalize feeding patterns or feed a pet with little to no human intervention over a period of time.
1 . An automatic pet feeding system, comprising:
a rotary plate comprising a food pod holder and enclosed by an enclosure, the rotary plate configured to rotate within the enclosure and about a first axis; and
a de-lidding mechanism, having—
a lead screw comprising screw threads,
a cutting module rotatably coupled to the lead screw via the screw threads and comprising a piercing member, wherein rotation of the cutting module about the lead screw causes rotation of the piercing member, and
a de-lidding motor coupled to the cutting module, the de-lidding motor being configured to—
(1) receive a first control signal to control the rotation of the cutting module along a first rotation direction about a second axis, and
(2) receive a second control signal to control the rotation of the cutting module along a second rotation direction about the second axis, wherein at least one of the first control signal or the second control signal causes the piercing member to remove a lid of a food pod positioned within the food pod holder when the cutting module is coaxially aligned with the food pod holder.
2 . The automatic pet feeding system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first control signal or the second control signal causes downward vertical displacement of the cutting module to cause the cutting module to pierce the lid of the food pod.
3 . The automatic pet feeding system of claim 1 , wherein the rotation of the rotary plate about the first axis transports the food pod along a rotation path on a surface that orthogonally intersects with a downward path traveled by the cutting module.
4 . The automatic pet feeding system of claim 1 , wherein the cutting module and the food pod holder of the rotary plate are radially equidistant from the first axis.
5 . The automatic pet feeding system of claim 1 , wherein the de-lidding mechanism comprises a centering plate that radially encloses the cutting module and that is concentric with the food pod holder of the rotary plate.
6 . The automatic pet feeding system of claim 1 , further comprising a control system, comprising:
one or more processors; and
computer memory having computer-readable instructions embodied thereon, that, when executed by at least one processor of the one or more processors, causes the control system to generate and send at least one of: the first control signal or the second control signal based on a signal indicative of continuing an automatic feeding process.
7 . The automatic pet feeding system of claim 6 , wherein the signal indicative of continuing the automatic feeding process comprises an authentication of the food pod that is determined based on at least one of: an image of the food pod captured by a camera, a radio frequency reading captured by a radio frequency identification (RFID) sensor, a weight measurement associated with the food pod, or a chemical reading taken from the food pod by a chemical sensing sensor.
8 . The automatic pet feeding system of claim 1 , wherein the de-lidding motor and the cutting module rotate together based on the first control signal or the second control signal.
9 . The automatic pet feeding system of claim 1 , wherein the de-lidding motor controls vertical displacement of the cutting module, onto the food pod holder, based on at least one of the first control signal or the second control signal.
10 . The automatic pet feeding system of claim 1 , wherein at the piercing member is one piercing member of a plurality of piercing members disposed around a perimeter of the cutting module, wherein the plurality of piercing members are configured to pierce the perimeter of the lid of the food pod.
11 . A de-lidding mechanism for an automatic pet feeding system, the de-lidding mechanism comprising:
a lead screw comprising screw threads;
a cutting module rotatably coupled to the lead screw via the screw threads and comprising a piercing member, wherein rotation of the cutting module about the lead screw causes rotation of the piercing member; and
a de-lidding motor coupled to the cutting module, the de-lidding motor being configured to—
(1) receive a first control signal to control the rotation of the cutting module along a first rotation direction about an axis, and
(2) receive a second control signal to control the rotation of the cutting module along a second rotation direction that is opposite the first rotation direction and that is about the axis, wherein at least one of the first control signal or the second control signal causes the piercing member to remove a lid of a food pod positioned within a food pod holder of a rotary plate when the cutting module is coaxially aligned with the food pod holder.
12 . The de-lidding mechanism of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first control signal or the second control signal causes downward vertical displacement of the cutting module to cause the cutting module to pierce the lid of the food pod.
13 . The de-lidding mechanism of claim 1 , wherein the rotary plate is configured to rotate to cause the food pod holder to traverse along a rotation path about another axis to transport the food pod from (1) a food canister to (2) below the cutting module along the rotation path.
14 . The de-lidding mechanism of claim 13 , wherein the rotation path traversed by the food pod holder is orthogonal with a downward path traveled by the cutting module.
15 . The de-lidding mechanism of claim 13 , wherein the cutting module and the food pod holder of the rotary plate are radially equidistant from the other axis.
16 . A method for performing an automatic feeding process, the method comprising:
positioning an unopened food pod in a first position, along a rotation path, that is concentric with a cutting module of a de-lidding mechanism;
vertically displacing the cutting module to downwardly descend onto the unopened food pod;
rotating the cutting module about a first axis and vertically displacing the cutting module along the first axis onto the unopened food pod, wherein rotating and vertically displacing the cutting module removes a lid or a cover from the unopened food pod to open the food pod; and
displacing the opened food pod from the first position to a second position that is concentric with a feeding port exposed to ambient air.
17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein displacing the opened food pod comprises rotating, along a second axis different from the first axis, a rotary plate comprising a food pod holder that holds the food pod, wherein the food pod holder and the cutting module are radially equidistant from the first axis.
18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein, during the automatic feeding process, food in the opened or unopened food pod is not exposed to the ambient air until the opened or unopened food pod is in the second position.
19 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the food pod is enclosed within an enclosure of an automatic animal feeder while in the first position and during the displacement to the second position.
20 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the unopened food pod is received from a food canister that includes a plurality of unopened food pods that are vertically stacked.