Scale - continuous or weight change sensor - sick pet

Hardware
1

I have a sick pet. I need to monitor how much food he is eating. I’m wondering if anyone knows of anyway to put a scale under his food bowl that would report back weights as they change we he eats the food. Any ideas or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!

2

You can build an esphome solution using a load sensor.

Another good DIY example: Monitor remaining water bottles with ESPHome and Home Assistant

3

That is interesting " build an esphome solution using a load sensor." I want to try this but
did you check a smart scale ? like xiaomi smart scale ?

I have an old cheap one and it can be integrated in HA and the app works right away even without HA and it can report back multiple users for the scale .

If this will solve the issue and you will buy it then make sure its not the old one
google " xiaomi mi smart scale 2 home assistant " and you will find the links .
But as I said smart scales work very well using the app

Hope your pet is going to be fine but if I was you I will take it to vet and keep an
eye 24x7 .

4

I am very new to Home Assistant but I just did a build of something that is very similar to what you are asking for. I would write it up but this video does a great job of describing the process:

If you need any help with any part of it let me know I will be glad to help you get going,

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5

yes please show circuit diagram and all details . I know this guys has good videos but I like to see none youtuber project working in practice . do this work with birds ?

6

I will document but in the meantime for the pore cat here is another sample video

7

here is one I made for my grill & smoker propane tanks.

ESPHome config:

substitutions:
  name: nodemcu_scale
  ip: 192.168.1.25
  friendly_name: Propane Scale
  friendly_name_1: Smoker Propane Raw Weight
  cal_value_lower_1: -110972 -> 2.6
  cal_value_upper_1: -11066 -> 12.6
  friendly_name_2: Grill Propane Raw Weight
  cal_value_lower_2: 90692 -> 2.8
  cal_value_upper_2: 292942 -> 22.8
<<: !include common_nodemcu_hx711.yaml

esphome:
  name: ${name}
  platform: ESP8266
  board: nodemcuv2

wifi:
  ssid: !secret wifi_ssid
  password: !secret wifi_pwd
  fast_connect: true
  manual_ip:
    static_ip: ${ip}
    gateway: 192.168.1.1
    subnet: 255.255.255.0

# Enable logging
logger:

# Enable Home Assistant API
api:
    
ota:
  
switch:
  - platform: restart
    name: ${friendly_name} Restart  
 
## https://next.esphome.io/components/sensor/hx711.html
## https://esphomelib.com/esphomeyaml/components/sensor/index.html#config-sensor
sensor:
  - platform: hx711
    name: ${friendly_name_1}
    dout_pin: D2
    clk_pin: D1
    gain: 128
    update_interval: 60s
    filters:
      - calibrate_linear:
          - ${cal_value_lower_1}
          - ${cal_value_upper_1}
    unit_of_measurement: lb
    accuracy_decimals: 1
    
  - platform: hx711
    name: ${friendly_name_2}
    dout_pin: D6
    clk_pin: D5
    gain: 128
    update_interval: 60s
    filters:
      - calibrate_linear:
          - ${cal_value_lower_2}
          - ${cal_value_upper_2}
    unit_of_measurement: lb
    accuracy_decimals: 1
  
  - platform: wifi_signal
    name: ${friendly_name} WiFi Signal Strength
    update_interval: 60s
    
text_sensor:
  - platform: version
    name: ${friendly_name} ESPHome Version

here is the circuit diagram:

propane scale_schem
propane scale_schem1494×1401 133 KB

1 Like