Hmmm… that is weird. Looks like the same photocell, though.

I should redo my links…. it has been years since I worked on this.

Thanks for letting me know.
//D

Saweet!

I went back and forth with that, but I found that it has to get *very dark before the door would close. But I love your solution.

Cheers!

Fantastic!

Thank you for the share, Chris. Looking forward to pics, etc.

Awesome… thanks for the share, Vincent.
Cheers!

For the past few months I have been using your automated chicken coop door design and general information as a guiding light for my own project. We currently have 9 hens but have lost two previous clutches to a badger and then a fox – very distressing!

I am a retired IT professional, so no stranger to programming in general, but this had been my first Arduino project.

So, I am now at the final stage pre-deployment, doing the final bench checks before the mechanism is installed in the coop.

Its been an interesting journey, and I have sure learnt a lot along the way! I think the most difficult part has been to get the whole thing robust enough that it can be deployed and (maybe) stands a chance of working for more than a few weeks in quite a harsh environment. Whether this will be the case remains to be seen!

A short list of the variances in my solution :-
– I have used an Arduino Uno
– As a base, I used the version of the software pasted by Josh a while back, thanks Josh!
– I have added some override switches, so I command the to move door up/down, independently of the light level.
– I have negated the need for any breadboards by using pullup settings on all the sensors.
– I have experimented with various connectors that provide the required level of robustness, but also allow for the boards to be removed at a later date for repair or upgrades. My soldering is rubbish, so have tried to avoid that!
– The coop door doesn’t have a locking mechanism on it yet – this is maybe something for the future.

Thanks for taking the time over the years to publish your project.
I will publish pics and more info once the unit is installed, hopefully next week!

I decided to go with internet connected arduino to get internet time and calculate sunrise/sunset. That way i wouldn’t be dependent on a photo cell on overcast days in a shady run.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AQVYWA2/ref=as_li_tf_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00AQVYWA2&linkCode=as2&tag=arduino-automated-chicken-coop-door-20

Hi Dan,

I know it’s a late reply, but I don’t think I ever had a pic of the LCD… just notated it within the code:
/ lcd
LiquidCrystal lcd(38, 37, 36, 32, 33, 34, 35); // lcd pin assignments
int backLight = 13; // pin 13 controls backlight
/*
LCD Pin > arduino Pin

lcd pin 1 VSS > gnd arduino pin
lcd pin 2 VDD > +5v arduino pin
lcd pin 3 VO(contrast) > 330 ohm resistor to gnd arduino pin
lcd pin 4 RS arduino pin 38
lcd pin 5 R/W arduino pin 37
lcd pin 6 Enable arduino pin 36
lcd pin 7 –
lcd pin 8 –
lcd pin 9 –
lcd pin 10 –
lcd pin 11 (Data 4) > arduino pin 32
lcd pin 12 (Data 5) > arduino pin 33
lcd pin 13 (Data 6) > arduino pin 34
lcd pin 14 (Data 7) > arduino pin 35
lcd pin 15 Backlight + > arduino pin 13 (built-in resistor)
lcd pin 16 Backlight > arduino gnd pin
*/

On this page:
https://davenaves.com/blog/interests-projects/chickens/arduino-chicken-coop-controller/

Cheers!

Hi Tim,

In short, SimpleTimer is a library that must be loaded so the code can reference it. You’ve probably already figured that out, but it’s best to start with smaller projects and read read read… I did. took me a long time. =)