There are a variety of ways to keep chickens but I have opted for a small coop with a fenced and netted area for them to roam. This protects them from predators (including bald eagles in my area) and meets my municipality's legal requirements (chickens cannot roam freely here).
Chickens naturally return to the coop to roost at night and they are let out to roam in their run during the day. But, letting them out in the morning and then locking up after them at night takes time. And, in the Puget Sound area, it rains occasionally. Since I'd rather not fumble with locks after dark or in the early morning (or while it's wet or cold) and since I'd like to have fewer visits to the coop each day, I think an ideal first automation project is to control the opening and closing of the coop doors.
Before we dive right in, let's consider some goals. To make things simpler, I've divided goals into 4 parts: Door control, Lighting Control, Environment monitoring, and user interface.
Door Control
1) Doors shall be tamper resistant when closed (so predators won't get in). To be more specific, since the doors open like a portcullis, a predator should not simply be able to lift it open.
2) The motors should not need to draw power in order to maintain the door in an open or closed state.
3) A method for manually controlling the door should be available at the coop site.
4) A method for disengaging the door from electronic control (in the case of a power outage for example) and latching it open will be available.
5) A way of detecting when to automatically open and close the doors (at daybreak and nightfall) will be available
6) Detection of daybreak and nightfall will be robust and not influenced by temporary conditions such as shadows or bright lights.
7) An easily visible indicator light will alert the user to the current door state. Open, closed, transitioning, and error conditions will be indicated.
Lighting control
1) An interior light will be provided.
2) The light will be operated remotely (no local manual control)
3) It should be configured to turn on some period of time after nightfall (establishing a night-length)
4) It should turn off when the coop opens at daybreak.
Environment montioring
9) Feed and water levels as well as temperature and humidity will be monitored and reported to the user.
10) A heater will warm the coop if the interior temperature is too cold.
11) Ammonia levels will be monitored and reported to the user.
User Interface
12) A remote base station will be provided it will:
13) Report all door and environmental conditions mentioned above.
14) Provide manual door and light controls.
15) Allow the user to manage configurable parameters (for example, what light level will determine daybreak and which door will open)
16) Add timer control to the coop opening and closing.
17) Keep time accurately (no more than a minute drift every 2 weeks.
18) Display everything in an intuitive easy-to-read manner.
Before we dive right in, let's consider some goals. To make things simpler, I've divided goals into 4 parts: Door control, Lighting Control, Environment monitoring, and user interface.
Door Control
1) Doors shall be tamper resistant when closed (so predators won't get in). To be more specific, since the doors open like a portcullis, a predator should not simply be able to lift it open.
2) The motors should not need to draw power in order to maintain the door in an open or closed state.
3) A method for manually controlling the door should be available at the coop site.
4) A method for disengaging the door from electronic control (in the case of a power outage for example) and latching it open will be available.
5) A way of detecting when to automatically open and close the doors (at daybreak and nightfall) will be available
6) Detection of daybreak and nightfall will be robust and not influenced by temporary conditions such as shadows or bright lights.
7) An easily visible indicator light will alert the user to the current door state. Open, closed, transitioning, and error conditions will be indicated.
Lighting control
1) An interior light will be provided.
2) The light will be operated remotely (no local manual control)
3) It should be configured to turn on some period of time after nightfall (establishing a night-length)
4) It should turn off when the coop opens at daybreak.
Environment montioring
9) Feed and water levels as well as temperature and humidity will be monitored and reported to the user.
10) A heater will warm the coop if the interior temperature is too cold.
11) Ammonia levels will be monitored and reported to the user.
User Interface
12) A remote base station will be provided it will:
13) Report all door and environmental conditions mentioned above.
14) Provide manual door and light controls.
15) Allow the user to manage configurable parameters (for example, what light level will determine daybreak and which door will open)
16) Add timer control to the coop opening and closing.
17) Keep time accurately (no more than a minute drift every 2 weeks.
18) Display everything in an intuitive easy-to-read manner.
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