Cat-to-Cat is a paired set of two cat toys for long distance friends and their felines. Either toy is activated whenever the other cat has started to play! If toy A is rattled with by a cat in Argentina.... toy B's wand will begin to move by a motor and catch the attention of its owner's cat in Norway! The action bounces back and forth between cats as they play. You and your long distance BFF will delight as your cats both share in each other’s fun throughout the day.
THE CIRCUIT AND CODEFind the circuit diagrams above and the code attached!
Test your circuit, code, and the interactivity between your toy circuits before soldering. Change the interval in the code to a few seconds (versus 20 minutes) to be able to easily test.
FORM & MATERIALCreate a container per toy that will house your circuit, attach to the wall or sit on the floor, hold your cat toy wand - allowing for its mobility from the motor - and display the LED lights.
I did so by laser cutting 6 layers of 1/4 in basswood (using the attached illustrator file) and wood gluing them together. The main things to consider are:
- A hole at the bottom for your USB cable
- A hole at the top (or elsewhere on the toy) for the wand to extend out
- Divots that will allow you to place the motor into the toy even while soldered to your circuit and to pull it out of the toy for any repairs.
- A back opening to hold your circuit and holes for wall nails
The motor can either be super glued to the back of the top layer or screwed into the top divot section.
Tidy up your design by sanding the edges (before adding your circuit and wand), painting, and adding a logo or front graphic (I used iron-on vinyl).
CAT TIME!Time to test it out with some cats! Share in the comments any customizations you make:
- What type of cat wand attachment best engages your cat?
- Did you adjust the servo motor's code for different motion and duration?
- Does it work best on the floor or attached to the wall?
- How long do you prefer the "sleep" interval to be?
I'll be dreaming up ways to make this more fun for the human users too... maybe an app that allows you to pair with multiple cat-to-cats and to capture your cats pseudo play dates in delightful ways. Let me know if this sparks any ideas for you, I'd love your feedback.
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