Automatic Litterbox Central

kutch wrote:The hardest part for me is the hardware aspect, after that it is relatively easy to program (almost child's play)..

I don't think child's play does any justice to the skill, knowledge and experience required for such a project. But even if it does: It still takes a lot of perseverance and discipline to actually write the software, test it and refine it until it is stable enough for anybody to use.

Pele wrote:I'm running on my backup processing unit, so I'll be dismantling my primary cat genie to figure out what went wrong in it; in the meantime, I'll get specs of all the motors and pinouts of the various connectors.

Or you can take a peek here:
http://groups.google.com/group/catgenius
We're open to the public now. You can freely download and try out the latest Beta version on your spare box. One brave beta tester even successfully runs it on his CG60 box.

I have a CG60 that has apparently a failed water relay. It's out of warranty and want to replace the relay, if that's really the problem. The solenoid resistance appears to be OK, but no power to the terminals in the manual step 3 mode. Which relay is the one to operate the water valve? I have the abilities to replace it, just need to know which one. Thanks.

hitophikers wrote:I have a CG60 that has apparently a failed water relay. It's out of warranty and want to replace the relay, if that's really the problem. The solenoid resistance appears to be OK, but no power to the terminals in the manual step 3 mode. Which relay is the one to operate the water valve? I have the abilities to replace it, just need to know which one. Thanks.

I don't know the water valve relay from the top of my head, but that's not likely to be the cause of your problem.
The water valve works in close cooperation with the water sensor. If the sensor senses water, it electronically blocks the valve from opening.

The water sensor senses water by means of refraction in the light guide: It shines in light on one side and if the light guide is dry light comes out on the other side. If the light guide is wet, light escapes from the light guide and no light comes out of the other side.

A very common cause for no light coming out of the light guide, is a broken or weakened LED. Take off your processing unit and put in on it's side on the floor. Use a non-conditive object to stick in the cross-shaped hole at the bottom to trigger the power switch. Take your digital camera to make a photo of the two black holes at the bottom that mate with the light guide in the base. You will see one of them producing some light on the photo. Replace this one with a regular 940nm 5mm IR LED and you're done.

KE5AFU wrote:I have created an online writeboard for all who are interested.
I will still be using the forums for the general information.
This will be for the actual technical details, parts, schematics, coding, etc.
It will be restricted to those who are actively working on a solution.


For those who are interested PM me for the password.

http://123.writeboard.com/fda52562c88c75f8a

it says i'm still to new here to be able to PM you. is there any otherway that i can get the password. is the whiteboard still active and is your project for the 60 or 120 model?

icestorm wrote:it says i'm still to new here to be able to PM you. is there any otherway that i can get the password. is the whiteboard still active and is your project for the 60 or 120 model?

OpenGenie died before it was born, I'm afraid.
If you're still interested in alternative firmware, you can take a peek here:
http://groups.google.com/group/catgenius
You can freely download and try out the latest Beta version on your box. Two contributors have access to my repository with the source code and all documentation I managed to come up with.
However, it's still a work in progress and not suitable for just anybody.

CatGenius wrote:

icestorm wrote:it says i'm still to new here to be able to PM you. is there any otherway that i can get the password. is the whiteboard still active and is your project for the 60 or 120 model?

OpenGenie died before it was born, I'm afraid.
If you're still interested in alternative firmware, you can take a peek here:
http://groups.google.com/group/catgenius
You can freely download and try out the latest Beta version on your box. Two contributors have access to my repository with the source code and all documentation I managed to come up with.
However, it's still a work in progress and not suitable for just anybody.

Does the catgenius work on the model 60? I really don't want to invest the money in a new 120 unit at this point. and even if I did I wouldn't be modding it until after its warranty expired.

That kinda stinks that the opengenie project never really took off. I'm really interested in still traveling down the road of replacing my board with an arduino based sytem. All my motors/solenoids still function just fine but I seem to have an issue with my control board, it quit reading the cartridges and doesn't seem to run the water solenoid in tech mode. i've been working on recreating the schematics in my spare time(not an easy task as i'm a computer network engineer and not an EE but do have a basic understanding of schematics and components). Even though the current board isn't functioning i'm not ready to go salvaging it for parts as i dont know if there are bad components or not and i don't have a programmer for the PIC chip.

so at this point i'm trying to source the components to build a new replacement arduino based board. My question is does anyone out there have the schematics already mostly done and a possible component list they would share? If not maybe there is someone that could help with some of the components.

I know that C14 is actually a 430ohm resistor and not a capacitor but don't have any way of telling what wattage it is. i know that in another thread someone mentioned it was a 1w 430ohm resistor does anyone know if this is the correct wattage of that component?

If I do get it working in the arduino world i would be more than willing to share everything i have done.

icestorm wrote:Does the catgenius work on the model 60? I really don't want to invest the money in a new 120 unit at this point. and even if I did I wouldn't be modding it until after its warranty expired.

One or two brave members have tried and succeeded. The LEDs won't exactly match anymore, but it is very workable. Just search our group for the details.

icestorm wrote:That kinda stinks that the opengenie project never really took off.

Well, I can understand why: I just takes a lot of perseverance to actually do it. I started CatGenius in February 2010 and it still isn't finished. It's a spare time pet project I work on off and on.

icestorm wrote:I'm really interested in still traveling down the road of replacing my board with an arduino based sytem. All my motors/solenoids still function just fine but I seem to have an issue with my control board, it quit reading the cartridges and doesn't seem to run the water solenoid in tech mode.

That would be nice to have, but it would be an expensive solution. It would also require a considerable amount of software re-engineering and you may end up with only a small number of individuals participating. Replacement firmware is fairly accessible to anybody with a $30 PICkit programmer.

I'm afraid the box will not be worth the effort In the long run: I have a broken motor almost twice a year. If this was an appliance you could use for the coming 15 years, like most appliances, it would be worth to redesign the electronics. But if the mechanics don't hold up it's a bit of a waste, I'm afraid.

icestorm wrote:i've been working on recreating the schematics in my spare time(not an easy task as i'm a computer network engineer and not an EE but do have a basic understanding of schematics and components).

I have recreated most of the schematics too. My two contributors have access to them and this project may eventually end up as Open Source.

icestorm wrote:Even though the current board isn't functioning i'm not ready to go salvaging it for parts as i dont know if there are bad components or not and i don't have a programmer for the PIC chip.

so at this point i'm trying to source the components to build a new replacement arduino based board.

Please don't get this the wrong way, but if you're unable to diagnose your original board, redesigning it may end up in a disappointment.

icestorm wrote:My question is does anyone out there have the schematics already mostly done and a possible component list they would share? If not maybe there is someone that could help with some of the components.

I know that C14 is actually a 430ohm resistor and not a capacitor but don't have any way of telling what wattage it is. i know that in another thread someone mentioned it was a 1w 430ohm resistor does anyone know if this is the correct wattage of that component?

I don't know the correct wattage, but bigger is better: Just use the largest that fits mechanically.

icestorm wrote:If I do get it working in the arduino world i would be more than willing to share everything i have done.

I'm sharing too, but only with a select number of trusted contributors, to prevent the project from forking into as many forks as there are developers.

I am new to this Forum and wish that I had discovered it sooner. The Amazing CartridgeGenius was already not available, and I would have ordered two. The OpenGenie Project seems to be the remaining solution to some of the CG problems. I see that now the CG 120-Plus has variations of the Cat Activation Mode, i.e. no sleep cycle, 30 minute wait time, and delayed cycles, etc., all among the things that we hope the OpenGenie Project will be able to give us, that also includes refillable cartridges, and personized cycles. The main drawback is not enough people are in the CG ownership club, and even fewer are aware of this forum, and still fewer have the know-how to participate in the project. If I had the technical talent needed, I would be working on it, for sure. I consider myself handy, and will likely be able to handle the firmware change when it comes closer to a final version.

What I do have is a fresh set of eyes, and from a layman's viewpoint, what I hope is a few suggestions that, perhaps , may point the participants in this Project in a new direction that may aid their quest, and help CG users worldwide. Here are my thoughts:

Since the release of the CG 120 Plus, is it possible that it's new firmware can aid in speeding up the development of CatGenius Firmware?

Could there be other capabilities waiting to be "unlocked', from the firmware it already has?

The CartridgeGenius is a marvel of ingenuity, and does many things. Obtaining one, though, is not currently possible due to a number of valid reasons I will not go into here, but is it possible that a simpler/cheaper/easy to make unit could be derived from it, something that only does one thing - tells the CG the cartridge is not empty? This would allow several things, such as refillable standard and maintenance cartridges, running without a cartridge, being able to cycle the CG when waiting for a cartridge shipment, etc.. This simple ability alone allows innovations in experimenting with cheaper, better solutions for cleaning, disinfecting, less-sticky pellets, odor control, and so on.

Maybe these ideas are crap. Maybe they are not feasible. I look forward to comments on them, good or bad......

I will have a couple of CartridgeGenius device available again soon.

CatGenius,
I'd like to purchase a device when you have them.
Thanks!

I will have a couple of CartridgeGenius devices available again soon.

That is great news! Do I need to get on a list or something? I am definitely interested in 2 of them.

Catgenius... i am in for one if there is a list. (been working on my 120.. managed to get one empty cartridge to register as full - but as of yet, unable to duplicate this with another).

I will post a new message announcing availability on this board soon. I think I'll have a couple available for shipping around half of February. But again; It's not a product, just a project, they won't be available permanently.

I understand it is a project. If I am fortunate enough to be one of the receivers of a couple of CartridgeGenius units, I intend to keep you advised about my experiences with them.

I have 2 questions.

Does the CartridgeGenius work regardless of voltage? I mean on either European or US voltage Cat Genies?

Have you considered a simpler unit, one that simply says the cartridge is full and does nothing else?

mrmayhem wrote:Catgenius... i am in for one if there is a list. (been working on my 120.. managed to get one empty cartridge to register as full - but as of yet, unable to duplicate this with another).

What did you do, or think that you did, to get it to register as full? Does that cartridge still register as full, or did it register as empty again after 120 washes?