Alpha, beta, proof of concept, production-ready—you’ve heard those terms thrown around in project development, but let’s be honest… most people treat them like corporate buzzword soup. Lucky for you, my current project is the perfect example, with just enough chaos to keep it interesting.

It all started when I was watching our squirrels feed and thought, Wouldn’t it be fantastic if I could record these little clowns on camera? I had a few spare security cameras lying around, and the squirrel seemed more than willing to audition for the role of “woodland lunatic.”

Step one: proof of concept. Could I actually capture squirrels feeding? One security camera, one battered feed cup filled with sunflower seeds, and boom—mission accomplished. Proof of concept also exists to reveal where the wheels might come off. And boy, did they. The squirrel took up maybe five pixels in the entire frame. When I moved the camera closer, everything went blurry, because security cameras are designed to focus on things like “infinity” and not “close-up squirrel glamour shots.”

Now, I’m no optics expert. ChatGPT might’ve been able to help, but I knew next to nothing about the optical personality quirks of my camera. So, like any stubborn engineer on a caffeine rush, I did the only logical thing—ordered a sampler set of lenses off Amazon. Sure enough, slap a 300mm convex lens right in front of the camera and BAM—perfect squirrel close-ups.

A little CAD magic later, and I had 3D-printed a lens holder that made the whole setup work. The frame and feeding tray? Scrap wood left over from my birdhouse binge. Congratulations, we have entered the alpha phase.

The squirrels were happy. The cardinals were happy. The pictures looked good. I was feeling smug. But… the feed still needed weather protection, and an automatic feeder would make me feel like a genius.

So I fired up the CAD again, spent a few hours tweaking, and hit “print.” Twenty-four hours later (broken into three pieces because my printer isn’t the size of a Buick), I had my beta. Betas are supposed to be the “final dress rehearsal.” Sometimes they roll straight into production. Just not this time.

Oh, the seeds were covered, sure. But my automatic feeder concept looked like it had been mugged in a dark alley thanks to being split into three parts. And then came the squirrel problem—climbing all the way into the tray to do his deranged, full-body happy dance, flinging sunflower seeds everywhere like it was Mardi Gras. The birds, politely waiting their turn on the tray edge, were too far from the camera to get their close-up.

Time for more improvements: shorten the feed tray to shut down squirrel rave night and bring the birds closer. Bonus—I could fix my feeder design, and with a little “precision scootching,” I managed to make it a two-piece print instead of three.

Now? The feeder station is officially production-ready. Easy to fabricate. Dirt cheap. Uses a budget security camera. Never mind that I only need one. This is why you never give an engineer unlimited budget and no deadlines—we’ll keep “improving” things until the sun burns out.

The Mark II version—yes, it’s already in design—will feature drainage holes in the feed tray (oops) and solar panels on the roof, because why not.

Did I mention I only need one or two?

You know, if I added a small battery, I could have porch lights so the birds ……..

---

And of course, today’s song… Feeder Dreams

© 2025, Byron Seastrunk. All rights reserved.