MouseAir launches toy mice for the amusement of cats
The cat toy launcher is one of the more whimsical projects to come out of SwitchDoc Labs [1]. It originated from a discussion surrounding a cat named Panther, who loves to bat fake furry mice around on the floor but is continually knocking them under the oven, refrigerator, or couch. Clearly, I needed to provide the cat with a greater ongoing supply of mice, especially when no one was around. Thus, MouseAir was born.
A block diagram (Figure 1) was developed in a pub during a wine-tasting adventure, and development started the next day. Although a number of new products have appeared for remote pet interaction, such as iCPooch [2], I have seen nothing like a Raspberry Pi-based WMD (weapon of mass distraction) for cats. The goal is to have the device detect the cat when it walks by and fire a toy mouse into the hallway.
As cat owners everywhere know, you have only about a 20 percent chance that your cat will like a new toy. I hope that by combining a new cat toy delivery system with a proven cat toy as ammunition, this probability can be dramatically improved. MouseAir clearly fills a need that should be addressed. At least the project provides a platform for learning how to deal with servomotors, DC motors, solenoids, and RFID readers.
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