Automatic animal feeding system for automatically removing food pod lids

A de-lidding mechanism for an automatic pet feeding system, the de-lidding mechanism comprising:

• a lead screw comprising screw threads;
• a cutting module rotatably coupled to the lead screw via the screw threads and comprising a piercing member, wherein rotation of the cutting module about the lead screw causes rotation of the piercing member;
• and
• a de-lidding motor coupled to the cutting module, the de-lidding motor being configured to—
• (1) receive a first control signal to control the rotation of the cutting module along a first rotation direction about an axis, and
• (2) receive a second control signal to control the rotation of the cutting module along a second rotation direction that is opposite the first rotation direction and that is about the axis, wherein at least one of the first control signal or the second control signal causes the piercing member to remove a lid of a food pod positioned within a food pod holder of a rotary plate when the cutting module is coaxially aligned with the food pod holder.

A method for performing an automatic feeding process, the method comprising:

• positioning an unopened food pod in a first position, along a rotation path, that is concentric with a cutting module of a de-lidding mechanism;
• vertically displacing the cutting module to downwardly descend onto the unopened food pod;
• rotating the cutting module about a first axis and vertically displacing the cutting module along the first axis onto the unopened food pod, wherein rotating and vertically displacing the cutting module removes a lid or a cover from the unopened food pod to open the food pod;
• and
• displacing the opened food pod from the first position to a second position that is concentric with a feeding port exposed to ambient air.