Need feedback about developing a Automatic refrigerated Feeder

Hello all,
I am a Mechanical Engineer, and work on developing products.
Like one of the members here said, I am one of those engineer types that likes to create useless gadgets. 
 
Currently, I am developing an automatic feeding system with the following features:
 
1) Automatic feeder controlled over the internet
 
2) Ability to store and dispense normal and frozen food. I am not using any ice packs, or a fridge. Just using some simple physics to develop a small cooling space. (Volume: 10 inch X 10 inch X 10 inch), (Can reach freezing temperatures.)
 
Since my expertise lies in electronics and controls, I was hoping to get feedback from experts on this forum about the usefulness of the system. I have worked on developing a similar watering system for my plants, and this seemed like a logical next step.
 
From my rudimentary understanding of the topic, I understand that there are quite a few products with timers, but not a lot which allow control of the feeder over the internet.  Secondly, majority of them are restricted by the fact that they can't store frozen food for a day or so, without spoilage.
 
Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated. Also, if you think that there might be something else which I could add to the system or definitely avoid/improve (no plastic, low profile/i opaque feeder to hide the food storage area), please feel free to let me know. I would be grateful for all the feedback and your valuable inputs.


Thanks,
R

You may also need to add a warming function to the feeder. I know my cats will not eat cold food - it has to be warmed to at least room temperature.

Definitely stay away from plastic, too.  Too hard to keep clean.

I like the idea, though.  Right now, most automated feeders work only with dry food.

Yeah, love the idea.
A couple of thoughts some of which are based on the reviews I've read while searching for a timer (I fed raw):
Need to make it controllable by non-internet savvy people (like me) and / or those who don't have a Smart phone (yeah, me).
Those that work by gravity, may not work with just a small portion of food--the weight isn't enough to trigger the drop-down thingamajig.
I don't understand how you would keep a food cool without an ice pack, but that's cause I don't understand physics or stuff but: this feature needs to be fool-proof. Temperature control: what if I put frozen food in the tray? It would take longer to defrost to eating temperature which would affect the programming. (And this comes from a cat owner whose cat will eat very cold food.)
Also, easy to understand programming instructions. Some scientists are brilliant scientists but not so great writers cause they assume a certain level of knowledge.
And yes as Ondine said, not plastic, and easy to clean. And hard to destruct by a too-eager cat wanting to eat.

I love the idea!  Can you have it ready within the next few months so I can have one in time for my vacation? ;-)

Seriously though, it would be a very helpful thing to be able to feed wet cat food when away from home for a few days.  My cats don't care one bit about whether their food is warm, cold, or room temperature, so as long as it's not a foodsicle when it gets served up, it would be fine without any warming feature.  The main concern for me would simply be that the food be maintained at a foodsafe temperature (40 F. or lower I believe) until the feeder serves it up for the kitties.

Good luck with it. I don't think there is a fit for purpose product in the market already. Here in Europe you can find feeders with refrigeration and pre-warming functions, IP cameras, recordable voice messages for feeding times, etc.... The best of them sells for close to $500. And yet, they all have plastic trays, it is ridiculous. Stainless steel, or porcelain tray inserts would be a must before I would buy one.