Cat Electronic Feeder

Problem:    Dead microcontroller
Solution:   N/A
Brand:
Cost new:   £150
Cost of fix:0
Age:
Success?:   No

This was a satisfying repair as I got electronic confirmation that it was impossible to fix it! I could find the datasheet for the microcontroller, and measure the pins for reset and find that the microcontroller was in a constant loop of trying to reset and reboot itself. No matter what pins I disconnected that might be sending an anomalous signal, it wouldn’t get out of this loop of constantly rebooting.

I think either the microcontroller failed and won’t boot anymore, or the firmware has been corrupted and needed to be re-flashed. Of course as the firmware for this microcontroller is available nowhere online, I couldn’t buy a replacement microcontroller and flash it!

So unfortuantely this thing is destined for the scrap heap.