The Pacific Journal of Science and Technology –168– http://www.akamaiuniversity.us/PJST.htm Volume 19. Number 1. May 2018 (Spring) Arduino UNO Microcontroller Based Automatic Fish Feeder Emmanuel Gbenga Dada, Ph.D. 1* ; Nnoli Chukwukelu Theophine, B.Sc. 1 ; and Adebimpe Lateef Adekunle, M.Sc. 2 1 Department of Computer Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria. 2 Department of Computer Science, Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo, Oyo State, Nigeria E-mail: gbengadada@unimaid.edu.ng ABSTRACT Over the years fish keeping for aesthetic purposes in aquariums has grown in popularity. Automatic fish feeders are electronic devices capable of dispensing fish food at preset intervals. They consist of timing circuitry to keep track of time and a trigger or switch to activate the dispensing mechanism which usually employs a motor. The amount of food dispensed is controlled by the to- and-fro movement of the motor depending on the time of release of food and closure. Automatic fish feeders relieve the fish owner of the routine task of fish feeding, and often come in handy when the fish owner is busy or out of town. All the owner needs to do is ensure there is enough feed in the tank. This study centers on the design and construction of an automatic fish feeder from readily available materials. A microcontroller is used for the timing and the motor goes through to and fro movement. (Keywords: Arduino UNO, automatic fish feeder; aquarium; fish ponds; feeding) INTRODUCTION Humans have kept fish over thousands of years for commercial, research, and aesthetic purposes. These fishes are kept in aquariums, ponds, and other containments and require regular feeding (Ogunlela and Adebayo, 2016). Traditional feeding techniques involve the fish owner manually dispensing the food at regular intervals. Fish owners can forget to feed the fish at the right time and also may inaccurately give the proper quantity of food. Automatic fish feeders are electronic devices that can efficiently dispense fish food at preset intervals. All the fish owner needs to do is pour feed into the storage tank of the feeder and the feeding is handled by the auto feeder (Anyadike, Eze and Ajah, 2010). Fish feeders are normally fastened to the wall of the tank just over the water. They consist of a hopper which is loaded with dry food. The hopper tapers downward and is able to discharge its contents at the bottom. A timer which rotates the hopper at regular intervals (dispensing food in the process), and a method of setting the interval between feeding and the amount of food dispensed. The dispensed food just drops to the water surface and the fish feed from there. The automatic feeder is a good accessory to have as an aquarist because maintaining an accurate schedule for fish is not easy as the aquarist may forget or might need to travel (Nasir et al., 2016). Automatic feeders are in existence but they are expensive and not readily available in many developing countries. Another feeder that exists is the mechanical feeder which is highly in demand. The feeding mechanism is activated by the fish hitting a lever or panel to allow the food to drop. In this case it takes time for the fish to learn the action of the feeder and once they do they keep on feeding because fish like most other animals feed whenever food is available and this leads to over feeding and pollution of the aquarium as it is the most prominent sign of over feeding (Nasir et al., 2016). Automatic feeders still stand out as the best option for feeding fish to replace the manual method and with the low cost of microcontrollers it is also the cheapest and the most accurate method (Nasir et al., 2016). This application of technology is new dimension in this part of the world as fish feeder are not widely used neither are most people aware of their existence. This study covers the design and implementation of an automatic fish feeder from readily available materials. The mechanism and technology