Sensor products

Question

Could I convert some cat toys with on and off switches that run on batteries to a sensor that would pick up movement of a cat ?? Obviously need it to still run in batteries .Would this work ??what would I need to do this ??-help ??

jw0752 · Answer

Hi Samantha, I had some time this evening so I decided to make a simple prototype of the trigger circuit. The first step was to make a simple trembler switch. I did this by soldering a light spring to a circuit board and placing a small lead weight at the top of the spring. Inside the spring I installed a wire that was not connected to the spring. The spring is free to move around so that if it is bumped it moves to the side and it touches the wire that is inside it. When this happens a circuit is closed and things happen. When the cat happens to bump the toy this will be enough to momentarily close the switch. When the switch is closed it pulls the voltage on pin two of the 555 timer chip (black square with 8 legs) down toward zero volts and this causes the 555 timer chip to turn on the LED. It also allows the large black capacitor at the back of the picture to start to charge up. When the capacitor get to a certain level after about 5 seconds the 555 turns the LED off and waits for another trigger pulse from the trembler switch. Her is another picture of the bread board layout. I also drew up a schematic for the circuit and you are welcome to use it as it is open source. If you click on the pictures or the schematic you will get a larger picture to look at. Finally I made a really short video to demo how it works. Think of the LED as a demonstration of the cat toy being turned on. Depending on the circuit that you would be adapting this trembler switch to, there would be some additional parts needed to make the interface between the two circuits work.

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John

jw0752 · Answer

Hi Samantha, How about an impact sensor with a timer. The cat would have to make the first move and bump the toy but once started the toy would continue until the cat lost interest and the timer timed out putting the toy back into sleep mode. John

jw0752 · Answer

Hi Samantha, Do you have a maker space anywhere near your location? Sometimes there are people with the proper skills looking for a project. The trouble with making a project work is that there are many aspects that have to come together to make a success. The idea itself is important but it must be coupled with the ability to make the idea come to life. If the person with the idea isn't themselves capable of making it come to life it can be very difficult and extra expensive. You may be willing to put hundreds of hours of thinking planning and building into your own pet idea without considering the cost. If you are asking someone else to put this kind of effort into it they will want to be compensated. What looks simple from the idea side actually involves many hours of planning and trial and error, building and likely will face the reality of 90% chance of failure. Even if the builder is able to get an agreeably good prototype up and running these prototypes are seldom marketable without extra work and polish. The next step is to find a way to produce the product in a marketable quality for a price that can compete with foreign companies that can copy and mass produce the product for pennies. The next big hurdle is marketing. Who do you sell it to and how do you do it without spending all the profit on marketing, commissions and shipping? I have been making what "I" considered good and marketable products for years. I have failed miserably on almost all of them and the two or three successes have not amounted to much either. My failures sit on the shelf in front of my bench and laugh at me. I have often said that what old men are really good for is telling young people what is impossible. Young people are good, fortunately, at ignoring old men and doing it anyhow. I hope you do not become discouraged. Take the time to learn the basic electronics so you can make your ideas come alive with your own skills. Today there are more resources that ever before in the history of the world. A lot of the technology snaps together and works quite well with a minimal understanding. As you progress in your learning you may have questions. This site is an excellent place to come and get ideas, clarifications and answers to questions. If you are able to find a collaborator it will be best if they are near your location so you will be able to communicate and move samples and prototypes back and forth quickly and cheaply. If you do not have a Maker's Space nearby perhaps there is a highschool or college technical instructor who knows a student with the skills you are looking for. Good Luck John

fmilburn · Answer

Hi Samantha, Depending on the size of the toy it might be possible to put a RFID receiver in the toy with a tag on the collar of the cat which the toy would sense it when the cat was close. Frank

Gough Lui · Answer

One way is to use a PIR motion sensor module or one from an alarm system that requires about 12V to operate. Some of these have an output that can be used to drive a relay, that would take the place of the original switch. This will, however, consume power all the time and may require more voltage than the toys originally operated from (necessitating a separate power supply). - Gough

mcb1 · Answer

Nice work jw0752 Adafruit have a similar vibration sensor in varying sensitivity. https://www.adafruit.com/?q=vibration I tried using them for a project, but they 'rang' too much for my application, so I resorted to a magnetic switch. Cheers Mark

jw0752 · Answer

Hi Samantha, I even have an example of what I am talking about:

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John

jw0752 · Answer

Hi Samantha, I am glad to answer questions but you will have to be the one to do the work. If you have some electronics experience you should be able to figure things out. Each toy will present its own unique challenges. For the sensor I would solder a spring on the board with a contact pin in the center. When the board is bumped the spring will flop over and touch the pin. This sensor should trigger a circuit called a "one shot" which will turn on the toy for a fixed period of time and then shut off. You can look up "one shot" using a 555 timer. The 555 will require a 5 volt minimum power supply. A little research should show some circuits that operate at 3 volts. The toy I showed you above operates on 3 volts but I do not know anything about the specific circuit. This can also be done with a small microcomputer. Perhaps one of the engineers on the site have a suggestion. John

genebren · Answer

The functionality in the above sample is very simple and could be performed my almost any microcontroller (including handling the bump sensor as described by jw0752 ). There are some parts from MicroChip (PIC or atTiny) that could easily fit the bill. Here is a tiny little board that might do the job: https://www.newark.com/adafruit/1501/silicon-manufacturer-atmel/dp/42X0890?st=trinket As John mentioned, we are here to help, but that implies that your are doing the work, and we are assisting when you have questions. Best of luck, Gene

genebren · Answer

Samantha The link above is for a microcontroller (ATtiny85) on a circuit board with pretty much everything you need. Then you would hook up a trigger like John mentioned, and some LEDs (some assembly required). Then you would need to write a small program in the the processor (built in bootloader on the board). There are free tools to compile/assemble the program. Gene

Jan Cumps · Answer

bentech23 wrote: I know what your saying but I just haven't got the knowledge to do this ? Surely there must be people out there to who do this kind of thing for a profession ??it can't all be for big businesses ?? They will need to get payed. And the ones that can make the device you think off in the way that you like it to be, are the experienced ones. When you don't have the knowledge, you'd have to hire someone for each of the tasks. There are toys that react on your cat moves here in the shop for €12. I guess it's only doable if you plan to learn all the skills needed to do that and if it is a hobby project that doesn't have to return your investments into it?

genebren · Answer

Samantha, There are sites, where you can hire a contractor to help you build your project. I do some of my consulting on one of them (I use UpWork). You post your job and your budget and people reply with a proposal. You then interview the candidates and reward a contract to the selected consultant. The price range varies based on the complexities and the skill levels needed to complete the job (I have done jobs for between $500 to $5000, there are jobs listed for even less). You can break the job into small pieces (like a simple prototype) or one big job. In working through sites like this, you will need to understand exactly what you want ans expect from you consultant, so be prepared with sketches, details modes of operation, etc. This way you will be most likely to be happy with the outcome. Good Luck, Gene

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