Post by thread:Best chip for a "Kitty Scarer" application

Hi, all; I need to make a "kitty scarer" that detects when one cat of mine (Kzinnrrhett the stubborn silver tabby) jumps up onto one bookshelf that she's decided is HER rest stop. I've been using compressed air, blown on her, to get her to leave (That "can of compressed hiss!" is her sworn enemy.) But she just jumps up there when I'm not looking, pushes any hapless books that are in "Her" space off the shelf, pushes on the surround system speaker to push it further off the shelf, and curls up & snoozes. Going to break the speaker some day at this rate... I'm thinking of using the 16C84 that came with my PicStart Plus for this (Could use a 8-pin chip, but /JW parts are pricey & I could re-use the C84 later once she gives up. Might as well use it - I'm buying F84-10's for newer projects, of course.) Add a 9V battery, a 78L05 or better regulator, a piezo speaker across 2 pins for nice loud differential drive, use RC timing, and just whip up some nice white noise (Mostly high frequency) and play with it until I like the effect, maybe add a HexFet to fire up a small 12V fan off a separate 9V battery (to blow air on her - she HATES that! it musses up her butt fur, and she HAS to be cute, not bedraggled! <G>) - use a capacitive pickup on an interrupt pin, put some wire-wrap wire on the shelf, and it should work pretty well? Anyone have such a critter already built, or care to comment? It sounds about right to me (I could put a 24C65 in there & read in a sampled actual hiss, but I think a good simulation with white or pink noise should do pretty well, just making it an unpleasant experience instead of restful should do this.) Simpler solutions? Mark, spam_OUTmwillisTakeThisOuTnwlink.com

A metal grid and a step up transformer.... low current mind you. Here's another 'kitty' application I wanted to build. When I still had a cat. 'Static' would bring all his buddies in for a free meal. The free meal part didn't bother me too much, it was when they decided to mark some territory... and come back on their own. I had 4 unknown cats free loading at one time!! Well I think a cat should have the freedom to come and go as they want to, by nature. So I built a cat door. To solve the unauthorized entry, I was going to place a low power transponder on the collar with a unique ID. So when Static was close to the door, he would receive a signal, and then ping it, enabling the door control for the right cat. The trick would be developing sensitive RSSI circuitry and some smarts to decern if more than one animal was entering at one time. Craig > {Original Message removed}

Non-electronic options: 1. How about sprinkling some red pepper powder on the shelf but don't turn the fan on it.. It will irritate her nose and burn her tongue when she licks. 2. Buy or make one of the cat trees with a shelf up near the ceiling. 3. Forget it - Just whose shelf do you think it is??? A cat lover Mark Willis wrote: {Quote hidden}> > Hi, all; I need to make a "kitty scarer" that detects when one cat of > mine (Kzinnrrhett the stubborn silver tabby) jumps up onto one bookshelf > that she's decided is HER rest stop. > > I've been using compressed air, blown on her, to get her to leave > (That "can of compressed hiss!" is her sworn enemy.) But she just jumps > up there when I'm not looking, pushes any hapless books that are in > "Her" space off the shelf, pushes on the surround system speaker to push > it further off the shelf, and curls up & snoozes. Going to break the > speaker some day at this rate... > > I'm thinking of using the 16C84 that came with my PicStart Plus for > this (Could use a 8-pin chip, but /JW parts are pricey & I could re-use > the C84 later once she gives up. Might as well use it - I'm buying > F84-10's for newer projects, of course.) Add a 9V battery, a 78L05 or > better regulator, a piezo speaker across 2 pins for nice loud > differential drive, use RC timing, and just whip up some nice white > noise (Mostly high frequency) and play with it until I like the effect, > maybe add a HexFet to fire up a small 12V fan off a separate 9V battery > (to blow air on her - she HATES that! it musses up her butt fur, and she > HAS to be cute, not bedraggled! <G>) - use a capacitive pickup on an > interrupt pin, put some wire-wrap wire on the shelf, and it should work > pretty well? > > Anyone have such a critter already built, or care to comment? It > sounds about right to me (I could put a 24C65 in there & read in a > sampled actual hiss, but I think a good simulation with white or pink > noise should do pretty well, just making it an unpleasant experience > instead of restful should do this.) Simpler solutions? > > Mark, .....mwillisKILLspam@spam@nwlink.com

At 03:09 PM 11/26/98 -0800, you wrote: >Hi, all; I need to make a "kitty scarer" that detects when one cat of >mine (Kzinnrrhett the stubborn silver tabby) jumps up onto one bookshelf >that she's decided is HER rest stop. I have found that my cat avoids any place she's recently had a flea treatment given to her. Perhaps you have some ritual your cat hates, you could bring her over to the bookshelf and do it there? -Bob http://www.bobblick.com/

Good ideas, folks! Give up & build another bookshelf, too true! She's a rescue, from a horrid home, that's why I don't do worse than the can of compressed hiss. Sick people had her, before I took her away from them. She's pretty happy here <G> Could also use a 555, I've been thinking (Those can be rigged to act as a proximity sensor, and would run a relay for the fan - more power hog though. AC power, I guess.) She's a wonderful kitty, like all of ours, just has a few habits that're obnoxious, like all of ours <G> I figure that only a machine can be as stubborn as a cat. <G> Mark, mwillisKILLspamnwlink.com Mark Willis wrote: > > Hi, all; I need to make a "kitty scarer" that detects when one cat of > mine <snipped> > Mark, .....mwillisKILLspam.....nwlink.com

{Quote hidden}>Hi, all; I need to make a "kitty scarer" that detects when one cat of >mine (Kzinnrrhett the stubborn silver tabby) jumps up onto one bookshelf >that she's decided is HER rest stop. > > I've been using compressed air, blown on her, to get her to leave >(That "can of compressed hiss!" is her sworn enemy.) But she just jumps >up there when I'm not looking, pushes any hapless books that are in >"Her" space off the shelf, pushes on the surround system speaker to push >it further off the shelf, and curls up & snoozes. Going to break the >speaker some day at this rate... > > I'm thinking of using the 16C84 that came with my PicStart Plus for >this (Could use a 8-pin chip, but /JW parts are pricey & I could re-use >the C84 later once she gives up. Might as well use it - I'm buying >F84-10's for newer projects, of course.) Add a 9V battery, a 78L05 or >better regulator, a piezo speaker across 2 pins for nice loud >differential drive, use RC timing, and just whip up some nice white >noise (Mostly high frequency) and play with it until I like the effect, >maybe add a HexFet to fire up a small 12V fan off a separate 9V battery >(to blow air on her - she HATES that! it musses up her butt fur, and she >HAS to be cute, not bedraggled! <G>) - use a capacitive pickup on an >interrupt pin, put some wire-wrap wire on the shelf, and it should work >pretty well? > > Anyone have such a critter already built, or care to comment? It >sounds about right to me (I could put a 24C65 in there & read in a >sampled actual hiss, but I think a good simulation with white or pink >noise should do pretty well, just making it an unpleasant experience >instead of restful should do this.) Simpler solutions? > > Mark, mwillisspam_OUTnwlink.com Now I'm not sure if this would work, but I was wondering if you've considered using sound? I was thinking of the Motorola Piezo Tweeters that have a frequency response beyond that of we humans. I'm not sure if this would work and you may be wanting to use an existing fan, but I know my cat isn't too fond of noise.

Mark Willis wrote: > > Hi, all; I need to make a "kitty scarer" that detects when one cat of > mine (Kzinnrrhett the stubborn silver tabby) jumps up onto one bookshelf > that she's decided is HER rest stop. > > I've been using compressed air, blown on her, to get her to leave > (That "can of compressed hiss!" is her sworn enemy.) But she just jumps > up there when I'm not looking, pushes any hapless books that are in > "Her" space off the shelf, pushes on the surround system speaker to push > it further off the shelf, and curls up & snoozes. Going to break the > speaker some day at this rate... > > Anyone have such a critter already built, or care to comment? It > sounds about right to me (I could put a 24C65 in there & read in a > sampled actual hiss, but I think a good simulation with white or pink > noise should do pretty well, just making it an unpleasant experience > instead of restful should do this.) Simpler solutions? I built a similar circuit to keep our cat off our furniture. I used an IR beam with a piezo sounder. It worked only for a short while. I then discovered that my wife felt sorry for the cat and disabled my "electronic feline educator". So much for technology... -- Friendly Regards /"\ \ / Tjaart van der Walt X ASCII RIBBON CAMPAIGN @spam@tjaartKILLspamwasp.co.za / \ AGAINST HTML MAIL |--------------------------------------------------| | WASP International | |R&D Engineer : GSM peripheral services development| |--------------------------------------------------| |SMS KILLspamtjaartKILLspamsms.wasp.co.za (160 chars max)| | http://www.wasp.co.za/~tjaart/index.html | |Voice: +27-(0)11-622-8686 Fax: +27-(0)11-622-8973| | WGS-84 : 26¡10.52'S 28¡06.19'E | |--------------------------------------------------|

Mark Willis wrote: > > Good ideas, folks! > > Give up & build another bookshelf, too true! She's a rescue, from a > horrid home, that's why I don't do worse than the can of compressed > hiss. Sick people had her, before I took her away from them. She's > pretty happy here <G> > > Could also use a 555, I've been thinking (Those can be rigged to act > as a proximity sensor, and would run a relay for the fan - more power > hog though. AC power, I guess.) > > She's a wonderful kitty, like all of ours, just has a few habits > that're obnoxious, like all of ours <G> I figure that only a machine > can be as stubborn as a cat. <G> ...hence the expression "To manage programmers is like herding cats." -- Friendly Regards /"\ \ / Tjaart van der Walt X ASCII RIBBON CAMPAIGN RemoveMEtjaartTakeThisOuTwasp.co.za / \ AGAINST HTML MAIL |--------------------------------------------------| | WASP International | |R&D Engineer : GSM peripheral services development| |--------------------------------------------------| |SMS spamBeGonetjaartspamBeGonesms.wasp.co.za (160 chars max)| | http://www.wasp.co.za/~tjaart/index.html | |Voice: +27-(0)11-622-8686 Fax: +27-(0)11-622-8973| | WGS-84 : 26¡10.52'S 28¡06.19'E | |--------------------------------------------------|

-----Original Message----- From: Tjaart van der Walt <TakeThisOuTtjaartEraseMEspam_OUTWASP.CO.ZA> I built a similar circuit to keep our cat off our furniture. I used an IR beam with a piezo sounder. It worked only for a short while. I then discovered that my wife felt sorry for the cat and disabled my "electronic feline educator". So much for technology... Have you considered circuit for training the wife? Gordon Gordon Couger RemoveMEgcougerTakeThisOuTcouger.com Owner PRAG-L PRactical AGriculture List http://www.couger.com/prag-l Stillwater, OK 405 624-2855 GMT -6:00

Tjaart van der Walt <tjaartEraseME.....WASP.CO.ZA> wrote: > I built a similar circuit to keep our cat off our furniture. > I used an IR beam with a piezo sounder. It worked only for a > short while. I then discovered that my wife felt sorry for > the cat and disabled my "electronic feline educator". So much > for technology... Time for a PIC-based "electronic wife educator". Of course, it will probably have to be much more sophisticated than a feline educator.

Eric Smith wrote: > > Tjaart van der Walt <EraseMEtjaartWASP.CO.ZA> wrote: > > I built a similar circuit to keep our cat off our furniture. > > I used an IR beam with a piezo sounder. It worked only for a > > short while. I then discovered that my wife felt sorry for > > the cat and disabled my "electronic feline educator". So much > > for technology... > > Time for a PIC-based "electronic wife educator". Of course, it will > probably have to be much more sophisticated than a feline educator. I feel another OT coming on... <G> The "electronic wife controller" has already been developed with opamps. The two inputs are commands (inverted input), and money (non-inverted input). Use compliments as Rf, and socks on the floor as Ri. Avoid rail-to-rail output opamps. -- Friendly Regards /"\ \ / Tjaart van der Walt X ASCII RIBBON CAMPAIGN RemoveMEtjaartEraseMEEraseMEwasp.co.za / \ AGAINST HTML MAIL |--------------------------------------------------| | WASP International | |R&D Engineer : GSM peripheral services development| |--------------------------------------------------| |SMS RemoveMEtjaartspam_OUTKILLspamsms.wasp.co.za (160 chars max)| | http://www.wasp.co.za/~tjaart/index.html | |Voice: +27-(0)11-622-8686 Fax: +27-(0)11-622-8973| | WGS-84 : 26¡10.52'S 28¡06.19'E | |--------------------------------------------------|

Tjaart van der Walt wrote: {Quote hidden}> > Eric Smith wrote: > > > > Tjaart van der Walt <RemoveMEtjaartTakeThisOuTspamWASP.CO.ZA> wrote: > > > I built a similar circuit to keep our cat off our furniture. > > > I used an IR beam with a piezo sounder. It worked only for a > > > short while. I then discovered that my wife felt sorry for > > > the cat and disabled my "electronic feline educator". So much > > > for technology... > > > > Time for a PIC-based "electronic wife educator". Of course, it will > > probably have to be much more sophisticated than a feline educator. > > I feel another OT coming on... <G> > > The "electronic wife controller" has already been developed with > opamps. The two inputs are commands (inverted input), and money > (non-inverted input). Use compliments as Rf, and socks on the > floor as Ri. > > Avoid rail-to-rail output opamps. Good safety tip there! I'd think it'd be good to use a couple of back to back Power Zener diodes to limit output to 3/4 rail or so, actually, after a 10 ohm or so output series resistor, to avoid damaging the "driven device"! We're talking a lot of command outputs here, after all, based on my experiences with my girlfriend <G> Mark, EraseMEmwillisspamspamBeGonenwlink.com

I recommend you get rid of your cat then before she starts getting expensive. Simpler solution. Adios, LarZ --------------- TAMA - The Strongest Name in Drums --------------- -----Original Message----- From: pic microcontroller discussion list [RemoveMEPICLISTKILLspamMITVMA.MIT.EDU] On Behalf Of Mark Willis Sent: Friday, 27 November 1998 10:09 To: PICLISTSTOPspamspam_OUTMITVMA.MIT.EDU Subject: Best chip for a "Kitty Scarer" application Hi, all; I need to make a "kitty scarer" that detects when one cat of mine (Kzinnrrhett the stubborn silver tabby) jumps up onto one bookshelf that she's decided is HER rest stop.

I want to teach my cherished, stubborn kitty, not to go to one place in the house, not completely rid myself of her presence; It would not make any sense, after having taken her away from a sick family where the mother washed her & her sibling in their washing machine, to show her children how "powerful" she was; (her sibling died, Kzinnrrhett survived by holding on to the central agitator, it was obvious the woman knew what was up as I walked in - so I just took her away from them, this abusive woman didn't even object). After having gotten Kzinnrrhett through healing as much of that trauma as I can (She still freaks on loud sudden sounds & on being splashed with water, but she'll come gripe at me as I bathe to tell me it's NOT SAFE! Look out! She's hilarious <G>), why in the world would I get rid of her? She is quite a fun character, really cute, and frankly, a lot less full of malice than some people. This suggestion is as good a solution as telling someone, worried about how they'll send their kids to college, to just kill their kids, thus solving the problem - it's IMHO, a close approximation to a TROLL. Mark, spamBeGonemwillisSTOPspamEraseMEnwlink.com, offended... Tony Antoniou wrote: > > I recommend you get rid of your cat then before she starts getting > expensive. Simpler solution. > > Adios, > LarZ > > --------------- TAMA - The Strongest Name in Drums --------------- > > {Original Message removed}

But I don't treat kids as animals and animals as kids. At least, that's the way I see it. If it offends you, well, 'nuff said. Adios, LarZ --------------- TAMA - The Strongest Name in Drums --------------- -----Original Message----- From: pic microcontroller discussion list [KILLspamPICLISTspamBeGoneMITVMA.MIT.EDU] On Behalf Of Mark Willis Sent: Sunday, 6 December 1998 13:37 To: EraseMEPICLISTEraseMEMITVMA.MIT.EDU Subject: Re: Best chip for a "Kitty Scarer" application This suggestion is as good a solution as telling someone, worried about how they'll send their kids to college, to just kill their kids, thus solving the problem - it's IMHO, a close approximation to a TROLL.