Custom Beeper Toy Helps Blind Dog Find Her Toy

Dogs can fill our lives with a lot of joy and companionship, but as they age they are often subject to various medical issues that can’t be entirely treated. Bud Bennett’s dog Lucy has progressive retinal atrophy, which has rendered her nearly blind. Even so, this nine-year-old border collie and Schipperke mix loves to chase stuffed toys when thrown, which she can still do with a “chime ball” that intermittently emits a sound.

The problem is that the ball must be switched on manually, and Lucy doesn’t particularly like when it makes a sound in he mouth. Bennett’s solution, of course, is a custom beeping electronics package that can be embedded in her toy. The device, constructed on a 15mm x 15mm PCB, beeps when thrown using an LIS3DH accelerometer to detect a fall condition. It keeps beeping for a few seconds after it hits to let her find the toy, then turns off when tossed again.

The unit runs on a PIC16F18313 microcontroller, and is supplied by a 120mAh LiPo that is about the size of the PCB. The PIC uses less than 1µA during sleep mode and the accelerometer consumes only about 12µA when sampling, so the battery should last for about a year before needing to be recharged. PIC project files and Gerbers are available in Bennett's he project writeup if you’d like to make your own intelligently beeping dog toy!