Type of sensor for project

[tedstruk]

I don't know... have you ever tried to finish a chicken(death blow, slit troat)?
Early this year I attempted to build a guiloteen with a thick machette and an x shaped frame that forced the neck and head into a rather compromising position...It failed badly and I feel horrible...
The feathers on young chickens necks are extremely strong and the device rather pinched the head off between the feathers insteadc of cutting through the feathers and severing the neck cleanly.
I have been thinking about this alot.
A long pointed spire-spike aimed at the birds thorum magnum(the vertebrea where the skull attaches to the neck) would probably be sharp enough to penetrate the feathers and skin and still be able to finish the job.

I have an idea for an arduino project to build a sensor driven targeting mechanism that drives the sharpened spike through the thorum magnum of a trussed bird... What kind of sensor(s) would be the best to find the sweet spot of the kill point on the focusing device?

 

[Tha fios agaibh]

A sharp hatchet was how Grandpa did it.

I can't recommend a sensor for you, but have you considered redesigning your X shaped frame to either a rotating blade, or two blades that act like shears?
Perhaps a guillotine isn't the best approach?

 

[hevans1944]

I don't know... have you ever tried to finish a chicken(death blow, slit troat)?

Yes, many times when I was a youth. And would do it again if we ever decide to raise a few chickens here in Florida. Same-o, same-o if my wife decides to raise a few rabbits for meat again.

You are overthinking this. There are several ways to slaughter a chicken quickly and cleanly. My maternal grandmother would grab the bird by its head and then swing the body around until the neck separated from the head. Pretty effective, but it took more effort than a young boy (me) could easily produce.

The second way my dad taught me: prepare a chopping block (a largish tree stump works okay) and sharpen a small hatchet. Place head of chicken on block with one hand. Some folks drive a couple of nails close together in the chopping block to trap the head, allowing you to stretch the neck before delivering the death blow. Use your free hand to rapidly swing the hatchet across the neck, severing the body from the head. Marvel at how the chicken runs around with its head cut off. No batteries, no Arduino needed.

There are other methods, some described here. Again, no electronics required. If you have a lot of chickens to slaughter, try hanging them upside-down by their feet from a horizontal clothes line, and then severing their body from their head with a sharp knife or perhaps pruning shears. This is also how we "sacrificed" frogs to obtain their hind legs, without tetanizing the muscles, for a biology research project: a large pair of shears was used to snip the legs off and allow the body to fall into a jar of formaldehyde.

Preparing a barnyard chicken for Sunday dinner is a messy job at best, but the "finger lickin' " results are usually well worth the effort. There are plenty of "back-to-the-earth" type sites that will provide details and recipes. This is not the type of topic usually discussed on Electronics Point.

 

[kellys_eye]

I reckon you could use an Arduino.....

I mean, people suggest one for practically every other 'solution' I read of.......

We keep chickens too and have to despatch them now and again. Simple neck stretching or a hatchet job never fails.

 

[tedstruk]

My hatchet always misses, and my overthinking always fails me... I think I need an arduino and some ingenuity. Like I said it is a challenge that I think someone might enjoy... even me. I thought about it and instead of guessing about life and death, chicken dispatching requires a more proper approach, and I have thought about the device I am suggesting... many many times....
a long pointed spire, driven by a sensor guided hammer, driven precisely into and through the thorum magnum.

 

[ChosunOne]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/18-Paper-Cu...Page-Trimmer-Blade-Scrap-Booking/282624282179

 

[shrtrnd]

My mother and grandmother slit the chicken's throat, then let it run around the yard to bleed-out. They told me that was to drain the blood from the chicken, otherwise it remained in the body, making cooking unnecessarily difficult. If I did that today, PETA would have MY head. Never did it myself, but that's what I was told.