Wi- Fi and tracking pets

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hannahbanana3

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#12831 8-Apr-2007 17:48

could i use wi fi to put sensors around my home and one on my dog so that every time the dog steped outside of the wi fi sensors a unit inside would beep. If not what else could i use instead?

johnr

19282 posts

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#66602 8-Apr-2007 18:32

Build a fence

Shut the gate behind you

tonyhughes

Hawkes Bay
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#66603 8-Apr-2007 18:34

Dunno about wifi sorry, I am not aware of any system that would work - though others may...

Bluetooth proximity detection would work easily, but would potentially only give 10 - 20 meters range with a one base station limitation (to do it cheaply and easily), or a little more time and effort will give you up to 100m range.

A transmitter for the dog (choose option A or option B)

A: 10 metre to 20 metre range only - use any bluetooth headset ($25 to $200 - you are looking for the best battery life), rip the ear hook off, and superglue an attachment on the back to go onto his collar.

B: 20 - 100 metre range - use a 100m Class 1 Bluetooth USB dongle, plugged into a small USB battery pack (http://www.hackaday.com/2005/01/28/how-to-usb-battery-v2/ or buy a premade one somewhere) - You would want to create this in a case that encloses the dongle and battery in one case, and is a reasonable size, weight and shape to hang off the dog collar.

A base station

A class 1 or 2 USB bluetooth dongle for your PC, and bluetooth proximity detection software for the PC - theres plenty of free stuff around. This will perform a custom action when the transmitter arrives and/or leaves (play a sound, run a program etc etc). It works by checking for the MAC address of the transmitter in question (any headset, mobile phone, etc etc).

Easy :-)

hannahbanana3

3 posts

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#66632 9-Apr-2007 10:26

thanks very much for your reply i will look into it.

Nightwyrm

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#66633 9-Apr-2007 10:56

I know there are GPS locators for pets, although the price can be fairly inhibitive or restricted to certain countries. E.g. http://www.globalpetfinder.com/

Post-geek, opinionated mediaphile, and natural born cynic. Jack of all genres, master of none.

jpollock

600 posts

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#66635 9-Apr-2007 11:39

How about RFID instead of bluetooth, or go even cheaper and investigate those little magnetic strips that stores use.

Both RFID and the magnetic strip would result in an unpowered device being attached to the dog. I would expect it to be annoying to have to "recharge the dog's batteries"..

Jason

---
http://blog.jason.pollock.ca

hannahbanana3

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#66649 9-Apr-2007 15:21

thanks very much for your replys i will look into both of the options as i have already looked into GPS but it is too expensive