Jadali Nima, Zhang Margaret J, Schulz Andrew K, Meyerchick Josh, Hu David L
College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA.
George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA.
HardwareX. 2023 Mar 1;14:e00405. doi: 10.1016/j.ohx.2023.e00405. eCollection 2023 Jun.
Automated feeders have long fed mice, livestock, and poultry, but are incapable of feeding zoo animals such as gorillas. In captivity, gorillas eat cut vegetables and fruits in pieces too large to be dispensed by automated feeders. Consequently, captive gorillas are fed manually at set times and locations, keeping them from the exercise and enrichment that accompanies natural foraging. We designed and built ForageFeeder, an automated gorilla feeder that spreads food at random intervals throughout the day. ForageFeeder is an open source and easy to manufacture and modify device, making the feeder more accessible for zoos. The design presented here reduces manual labor for zoo staff and may be a useful tool for studies of animal ethology.
自动喂食器长期以来一直用于喂养小鼠、家畜和家禽，但无法用于喂养大猩猩等动物园动物。在圈养环境中，大猩猩食用的切块蔬菜和水果太大，自动喂食器无法分发。因此，圈养的大猩猩在固定的时间和地点由人工喂食，这使它们无法进行自然觅食时的运动和丰富活动。我们设计并制造了“觅食喂食器”，这是一种自动大猩猩喂食器，它会在一天中随机间隔散布食物。“觅食喂食器”是一种开源设备，易于制造和改装，使动物园更容易获得这种喂食器。这里介绍的设计减少了动物园工作人员的体力劳动，可能是动物行为学研究的有用工具。
