ioBridge Blog » Pets

Remote Controlled Cat Door and Alert System

hans — Thu, 13 May 2010 08:31:12 +0000

Rogier Honselaar is a tech consultant in Germany. He wanted to be able to control a cat door remotely and also be notified when his cat came home.

"Gonzo" loves his automated cat door

As with most projects, Rogier started searching the Internet and found some interesting projects. He got the idea to combine some of his favorite projects and make a remotely controlled cat door and alert system for his cat, “Gonzo”.

Here are some projects that inspired him:

When the idea was there, the execution was very easy using the IObridge module and components.

Rogier installed a Cat Mate Cat Door in his basement. The cat door opens when the electromagnet senses a magnet in the cat’s collar. By running the sensor and switch over the the ioBridge IO-204, Rogier can be open and close the door remotely. He is also able to monitor when the cat comes in and out of the door. The messages get pushed to Ping.fm via the IO-204 and ioBridge web service. Rogier and his neighbor follows his cat on Twitter @fellnasegonzo to make sure Gonzo is home safe and sound.

Cat Mate Automated Cat Door

Cat Door Switch and Sensor

At ioBridge.com, Rogier created a few control and monitor widgets. With some help from a friend, he controls and reads the widgets via a net-connected Windows Mobile app on his cellphone and can open and close the cat door on his Windows Home Server.

Windows Mobile Cat Door Control App

Windows Home Server Interface

Thanks for sending us the project details – we are happy to share. You combined some very interesting things together and created a very useful project. We wish you and Gonzo well and hope you enjoy the new cat door! Who let the cat out? Meow.

MAKE Volume 22: Remote Control Everything!

hans — Fri, 07 May 2010 09:18:31 +0000

Volume 22 of O’Reilly Media’s MAKE Magazine is loaded with remote control projects. Everything from The Kitty Twitty by Marc de Vinck to a radio controlled lawnmower called “Lawnbot400″ .

MAKE Volume 22 Remote Control / Wireless

Gareth Branwyn asked “innovators and enthusiast” from the industry what’s on their radars for his article. Since the issue was all about remote control, Gareth pinged our very own Jason Winters for his thoughts on how remote control has changed and where it’s going.

“Today, by using the internet to send control signals, range is no longer limited by transmission power. Any location with a net connection can be a potential command point.”

MAKE also included some favorite ioBridge applications and projects:

Solar Hot Water Monitoring by Eric Edwards
LaserPup – Remote Controlled Laser Pointer Pet Toy by Joe Bain
RFID Phone Dialer by Stephen Myers

We were thrilled to have a mention in MAKE Magazine. It’s a favorite of ours and it always has some great projects. Check out makezine.com and make sure to get a copy of the latest volume.

Visit us at Maker Faire NC

hans — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:43:03 +0000

ioBridge is an exhibitor and sponsor at this year’s Maker Faire North Carolina. We will have on display web-enabled robots, toys, and interactive projects created by the ioBridge community. Some of those projects include, an iPhone controlled Donkey Kong and a remote controlled dog treat dispenser.

Maker Faire NC is free and open to the public. Stop by and visit us!

Maker Faire NC
Sunday, April 25, 2010 9AM - 9PM

Loehmann’s Plaza
1821 Hillandale Rd.
Durham, NC 27705

www.makerfairenc.com

TankedCam Interactive Aquarium [MoreControl.com]

hans — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:42:28 +0000

Pete from Pete’s Fishcam and TankedCam fame got a great writeup on MoreControl.com. His system uses the ioBridge IO-204 to control and monitor his fish tank from anywhere.

“Designed for the iPhone/iPod (and Mac/PC desktop), the TankedCam app allows you to turn your Atlantis into an aquatic home automation paradise.”

Learn more at MoreControl.com and TankedCam.com.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5eYERAa1_A

Remote Dog Feeder with iPhone

hans — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:52:42 +0000

The inventor known only as “hacklife” created an iPhone-controlled dog feeder. He converted some household parts into a stable, servo-controlled food dispenser. At the heart of the system is the IO-204 from ioBridge that allows the iPhone to direct servo positions over the Internet with no programming involved. His YouTube video, ioBridge Forum post, and MAKE post explain the system in more detail. Well done, hacklife.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaePrjwCLg4

LaserPup: The Remote Laser Pointer Pet Toy

hans — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 17:20:22 +0000

LaserPup is burning up the Internet. Joe of laserpup.com has created an interactive, Internet controlled and monitored pet toy, for his fluffy dog Skyler. Joe can log into an “iPhone friendly web app” that allows him to watch his dog from work, click a button to sound off a buzzer, and play with the dog using a laser pointer by clicking around his web interface. The system uses a couple of servos for x and y axis movement of the laser pointer and a few ioBridge widgets to make things work in the web app. Some dogs and cats love the laser pointer, chasing the light source all around – it’s healthy, fun exercise for pets in moderation.

When we first heard of the project, we thought this has something to do with dogs doing epic battles with lasers (nice Star Trek and ‘Skyborg’ reference, btw), but this is a very practical project. On the laserpup.com you will find a video, instructions, screen captures, and all of the de-tails to make your own Internet controlled pet toy for dogs and cats (I have to believe they will love it too). Awesome project Joe and thanks for sharing LaserPup with all of us. This YouTube video, enhanced with some Daft Punk, says the rest.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMUCPWU0d4s

Follow the project further at LaserPup.com, MAKE, Hack-a-Day, Oh Gizmo, Hacked Gadgets, Gizmodo, and Engadget. Well done Joe!

Internet Dog Feeder

hans — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 20:38:02 +0000

Every once in a while you stumble across something on YouTube that strikes you as both entertaining and educational. I was searching around when I found the “Internet Dog Feeder” by Tyler. I don’t know much about who is behind the project, but it for sure works well and is a very cool design. Of course it uses the ioBridge IO-204 module to drive a continuous rotating servos from a web page that also has a live camera feed of the dog’s bowl. Tyler can log on to his web page and see if the bowl is empty and send some food. With a click of the mouse, the servo spins to fill the dog bowl.

Tyler’s “Internet Dog Feeder” took a little over an hour to create. Tyler appears to be a young, up-and-coming inventor with a solid invention that his dog is sure to appreciate! Thanks for the unexpected delight on YouTube.