An automated, solar-powered fish feeding system built to maintain a large pond of blue gill and bass.

Built during the summer of 2020, the purpose of the Fish Feeder 5000 was to deploy one cup of fish food every 12 hours into a pond. The system worked using a small lead-acid battery charged by a solar panel which supplied power to a delay relay module and motor. The specified time on and off could be set using the delay relay module. A five gallon bucket was completely filled so the system could autonomously operate for days on end without needing to be refilled. The bottom of the 5 gallon bucket was removed and replaced with a large funnel which lead into a 2" PVC pipe. When powered on, the motor would turn a corkscrew inside the pipe and the food would be pushed out of the tube into the pond. The whole system was mounted inside a wooden frame. Unfortunately, the Fish Feeder 5000 operated for a full year until it was destroyed by an unexpected bear in September of 2021 who also wanted a taste of the fish food; the system was not engineered to be bear-proof, as shown in the pictures at the top of the page and below.