2016-2017 Integrated Pet Feeder for Health and Wellness

Your Next Generation Pet Feeder For A Healthier Friend

Veterinarians estimate 52% of dogs and 57% of cats in the US are overweight. The main reasons are:
• Food portions don’t correspond to pet’s ideal weight and size.
• Failure to administer recommended supplements for pets.
• Measuring food and dispensing supplements is time consuming and a messy task for pet owners.

Goal

Design and prototype a user friendly, mechanical pet feeder that dispenses veterinarian recommended amounts of dry food and liquid supplements, based on pets’ needs.

The Bigger Picture

Current pet feeders on the market do not address supplement dispensing and often have an inaccurate way of dispensing food. Our design will provide pet owners with an accurate and easier way to dispense food and supplements with the purpose to keep pets healthier and happier.

Timeline

Subsystem Breakdown

Innovation

Our target customer is the person who considers their pet a family member. Someone who wants to be able to monitor their pet’s diet and well-being closely without too much effort; someone who appreciates practicality, while at the same time wants to keep an appealing and attractive look for their kitchen.

#	Name	Email Address	Position	LinkedIn Address
1	Kitcia Juache Aguilar	kjuachea@uci.edu	Team Lead	https://www.linkedin.com/in/kitcia-juache-aguilar-0146aa9a
2	Hector Alvarez	hhalvare@uci.edu	Safety Officer	https://www.linkedin.com/in/jose7956/
3	Sandy Moreno Anaya	snmoreno@uci.edu	Document Manager
4	Jose Ramirez	jaramir6@uci.edu	Purchasing Manager

#	Name	Email Address	Position	LinkedIn Address
1	Kitcia Juache Aguilar	kjuachea@uci.edu	Team Lead	https://www.linkedin.com/in/kitcia-juache-aguilar-0146aa9a
2	Hector Alvarez	hhalvare@uci.edu	Safety Officer	https://www.linkedin.com/in/jose7956/
3	Sandy Moreno Anaya	snmoreno@uci.edu	Document Manager
4	Jose Ramirez	jaramir6@uci.edu	Purchasing Manager
5	Chenxi Ji	chenxij@uci.edu	Member

Name: Kitcia Juanche Aguilar
Email: kjuachea@uci.edu
Team Lead

Name: Hector Alvarez
Email: hhalvare@uci.edu
Safety Manager

Name: Sandy Moreno Anaya
Email: snmoreno@uci.edu
Document Manager

Name: Jose Ramirez
Email: jaramir6@uci.edu
Purchasing Manager

Initial Project Information

Project ID#
MAE0084
Course Code
19230
Project Type
Industry
Field of Interest
Product Development, Controls, Robotics
Description
Product will allow owners to have an all-inclusive device that dispenses the appropriate amount of food based on the pet’s body weight, as well as add the desired supplement(s) with the push of a button. See full description below.
Maximum Number of Students
8
Requirements
Senior status. Students will take 2 units for F, W, S unless otherwise accepted by advisor.
Additional Information
Potential patent opportunity and taking product to market for students.
Contact Method
email advisor

Terry Wang
Advisor
terry.wang@uci.edu

Dr. Maria Bromme
Industry Sponsor

Dr. Ashley Dewey
Industry Sponsor

Discuss this project.

Full Description

The health of our domestic dogs and cats depends in part on their diet and access to veterinary care. As veterinary care for pets continues to advance, more responsibility is put on pet owners to comply in giving their pets the best possible standard of care. With increasingly busy lifestyles, it can be difficult for pet owners to commit to all veterinary advice, such as feeding an ideal amount of food for the pet’s weight, adding vital supplements to each meal, and remembering to give monthly flea and heart worm prevention.

An estimated 52% of US dogs and 57% of US cats are overweight or obese. Most owners do not understand how much their pet should ideally be eating every day, and many pet owners fail to comply with veterinary advice on feeding due to inaccurate measurement systems (feeding a “few handfuls” or a few “scoops” and not using a standardized measurement). Many pet owners are therefore unsuccessful at achieving a healthy weight for their pets despite receiving the appropriate veterinary advice. Poor compliance is also prevalent with the administration of supplements recommended to pets with specific medical problems. Frequent complaints include the time-intensive and messy nature of administering certain supplements such as omega-3s, or failing to remember to give the desired supplement consistently.

Many automatic pet feeders currently exist where a specified amount of food can be administered at desired times of the day. There are inherent drawbacks using automatic feeders- many pets have devised crafty ways of sneaking extra food out of the machine, and most feeders do not allow owners to choose an amount ideal for the pet’s weight.

Dietary supplements can be obtained from a variety of retailers, and dosing can be difficult to achieve. Supplements can come in a plethora of different formulations, including liquids, powders, tablets, or gel capsules that must be broken open and dripped onto the food. This can be confusing, messy and time-consuming for owners. Some supplements come in a pump bottle design which is more convenient, however this method still requires owners to remember administering the supplement and can still prove messy if the pump bottle is not directly over the pet’s food.

As veterinarians, we understand where compliance is poorest in our daily recommendations to pet owners. Our product will allow owners to have an all-inclusive device that dispenses the appropriate amount of food based on the pet’s body weight, as well as add the desired supplement(s) with the push of a button. The product will have 4 slots for replaceable supplement cartridges (containing supplements such as omega-3s, pro-biotics, glucosamine). Each pet’s information (name, body weight, desired supplements) is stored and can easily be selected on a digital display. A food reservoir can be attached and detached easily from the top of the device. The digital display will also function as a reminder system for monthly parasite preventatives to improve compliance and reduce the incidence of flea infestations, devastating heart worm infections, the transmission of tick-borne diseases, and zoonotic intestinal parasite infections.

a removable food reservoir that stores about 10 cups of food (or more if design allows it)
accurate measurements of food to be dispensed according to the pet’s weight
the ability to hold 4 replaceable cartridges containing liquid supplements (as per the pet’s needs)
the ability to dispense the desired supplement for each pet
a digital display allowing owners to select which pet they are feeding (with the ability to store up to 6 different pet’s names and dietary requirements- including the ideal amount of food per weight of pet, and supplements pet requires)
convenience of pet meal preparation with the push of a button!
ability to display reminders for monthly flea meds, other healthcare reminders, and if possible, integrate with an app

Your Next Generation Pet Feeder For A Healthier Friend

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Initial Project Information

Project ID#

Course Code

Project Type

Field of Interest

Description

Maximum Number of Students

Requirements

Additional Information

Contact Method

Full Description