Building an Arduino-powered RFID cat door

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#453054 29-Mar-2011 10:23

oxnsox:
My thoughts exactly. But when we called the vet they said we cannot trap the cat inside.

SPCA told us they can't do anything since the cat has an owner (it's got a microchip) that claims the cat stays with her daily.

So why not trap the evil Witches cat (evil cats do belong to Witches don't they?) yourself... either outside your house near your cat door or even inside you house so it walks thru the catdoor into the trap (just lock your kitties up for the night). But don't give it straight back to the Witch for a day or soo. Let her worry about where her only stay at home cat has gone and wait for her to come knock at your door.... 'Oh that cat in the cage, we caught it inside our house, but since yours does wander we didn't think to ask if it belonged to you.'

The trapped cat may not want to visit you again after its incarceration.... Hey it's a system thats widely used with some success on people

Tried that once, but drove the cat inside a travel cage all the way to Albany. We got peace and quiet for about 2 months, but then the bastard showed up again last week.

The 'witch' even started putting 'lost cat' flyers throughout the street.

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#453067 29-Mar-2011 10:53

I have almost the exact same problem. Our cats don't get in fights, they just sit around and let the other cats come in for a party! ;) They don't wear collars, so RFID is the only way to go I reckon. I'll follow your progress with interest, although I'm pretty much leaning towards buying a door...

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#453070 29-Mar-2011 10:55

bazzer: I have almost the exact same problem. Our cats don't get in fights, they just sit around and let the other cats come in for a party! ;) They don't wear collars, so RFID is the only way to go I reckon. I'll follow your progress with interest, although I'm pretty much leaning towards buying a door...

I placed an order for an Arduino Inventor's Kit and an RFID starter kit, to the total of $215. I'll keep a log of this stuff and tally up when it's done.

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#453072 29-Mar-2011 10:59

magu: Tried that once, but drove the cat inside a travel cage all the way to Albany. We got peace and quiet for about 2 months, but then the bastard showed up again last week.

The 'witch' even started putting 'lost cat' flyers throughout the street.

What did you expect? That's a bit rough, dude, catnapping. Do you know where your cats are every second of the day? Ours mostly hang around the house, but you never know.

I find that trapping and "terrorising" the cat with water works wonders, but it is only temporary, they eventually get their courage up again. This was suggested to me by a vet, and I figure as long as you're not squirting it in the eyes or ears or something, there's no permanent damage. Even the meanest cat can make you feel sorry for it when it's trapped and soggy though...

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#453075 29-Mar-2011 11:02

bazzer:
magu: Tried that once, but drove the cat inside a travel cage all the way to Albany. We got peace and quiet for about 2 months, but then the bastard showed up again last week.

The 'witch' even started putting 'lost cat' flyers throughout the street.

What did you expect? That's a bit rough, dude, catnapping. Do you know where your cats are every second of the day? Ours mostly hang around the house, but you never know.

I find that trapping and "terrorising" the cat with water works wonders, but it is only temporary, they eventually get their courage up again. This was suggested to me by a vet, and I figure as long as you're not squirting it in the eyes or ears or something, there's no permanent damage. Even the meanest cat can make you feel sorry for it when it's trapped and soggy though...

Exactly. Hence why I'm not targeting the cat itself, but rather trying to make my house a safe place for my own cats. I can't vouch for them when they are outside, but at least a little bit of peace should be guaranteed when they are inside.

Water sprays no longer work. Tried already.

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#453097 29-Mar-2011 11:41

magu: Exactly. Hence why I'm not targeting the cat itself, but rather trying to make my house a safe place for my own cats. I can't vouch for them when they are outside, but at least a little bit of peace should be guaranteed when they are inside.

Yep, that's how I feel. We can't control the other cats, but we can try and help our own.

For $215 for the kit that you need to work on to make it work (and even then it might not, or not be as nice a solution) I might just look at this door. The biggest problem is my existing door I think already has too big a hole, so I'd need to replace the glass. Also, I still need to get both my cats chipped. It will all add up to be pretty expensive...

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#453099 29-Mar-2011 11:43

bazzer:
magu: Exactly. Hence why I'm not targeting the cat itself, but rather trying to make my house a safe place for my own cats. I can't vouch for them when they are outside, but at least a little bit of peace should be guaranteed when they are inside.

Yep, that's how I feel. We can't control the other cats, but we can try and help our own.

For $215 for the kit that you need to work on to make it work (and even then it might not, or not be as nice a solution) I might just look at this door. The biggest problem is my existing door I think already has too big a hole, so I'd need to replace the glass. Also, I still need to get both my cats chipped. It will all add up to be pretty expensive...

That's even MORE expensive than the one I found (search SureFlap). Around ~$300.

I'm only going the personal route because I think it's possible to get it cheaper (possibly even cheaper than what I'm paying).

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#453102 29-Mar-2011 11:50

Getting back to the BB gun idea....

Paintball gun - will give the cat hell of a shock (noise and impact), leave paint in its fur which Im sure it will hate the taste of. Make your own paintballs filled with something vile the cat will hate tasting - such as hot chilli powder. It'll soon learn to keep away....

PS: I am a cat owner and have had cats since the day i was deposited on the SPCA's front doorstep... so I dont wish any cat permanent harm. However, scaring the daylights out of them is a hobby of mine...

XPD / Gavin

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#453103 29-Mar-2011 11:50

It would be cheaper as you can buy the Arduino by it's self for only $59 so you could cut that price down by almost $90

Geoff E

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#453104 29-Mar-2011 11:51

geocom: It would be cheaper as you can buy the Arduino by it's self for only $59 so you could cut that price down by almost $90

That's what I thought. I only went with the Inventor's kit because I never played around with Arduino, so if the project backfires, I can use it for something else.

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#453107 29-Mar-2011 11:53

magu:
geocom: It would be cheaper as you can buy the Arduino by it's self for only $59 so you could cut that price down by almost $90

That's what I thought. I only went with the Inventor's kit because I never played around with Arduino, so if the project backfires, I can use it for something else.

Good plan but yes it could in theory be cheaper.

Also just wondering where your getting the parts from?

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#453108 29-Mar-2011 12:01

geocom:
magu:
geocom: It would be cheaper as you can buy the Arduino by it's self for only $59 so you could cut that price down by almost $90

That's what I thought. I only went with the Inventor's kit because I never played around with Arduino, so if the project backfires, I can use it for something else.

Good plan but yes it could in theory be cheaper.

Also just wondering where your getting the parts from?

Getting them from Nice Gear, mostly. Glass cap tags (the implantable ones) might come from Mind Kits, or, if I feel like spending some more, an RFID reader like this one to use with the standard vet-supplied 134.2kHz tags.

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#453123 29-Mar-2011 12:53

magu: That's even MORE expensive than the one I found (search SureFlap). Around ~$300.

I'm only going the personal route because I think it's possible to get it cheaper (possibly even cheaper than what I'm paying).

This door has a lot of nice features you chould consider in your design.
- Battery or mains powered
- Night mode (automatically switches to in only based on light conditions)
- Adjustable scan-to-entry time

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#453137 29-Mar-2011 13:53

I have a Pet Porte and it works really well. The only problem is they are hideously expensive in NZ so I bought mine from a UK seller on ebay.

My next challenge is to hook a signal analyser on to it and start monitoring it with an Arduino device :)

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#453337 29-Mar-2011 23:52

We also have a problem with neighbors' cats stealing food at night and harassing our cat when we are away.

I tried locking the flat to in-only, but they run at it so hard when I try to catch them that it bends open.

Also rigged up the hose and spray nozzle with solenoid valve, activated by microswitch on catflap. It worked, but it only took them 3 days to figure out I had given up on it (after 3 weeks or so) and returned to their usual tricks.

I stuck aluminium tape to the outside of the catflap and connected an electric fence device (sheep grade) to it. I think they could sense the electric field, because after a couple of weeks I turned it off and immediately they were back inside!

We can't put a magnetic collar on our cat because her long fur gets badly matted, so RFID would be the (expensive) way to go.

A friend had a cat urinating on their kitchen bench at night. Somehow he caught it in a cage, hosed it down, left it in the garage for the day while at work, hosed it down again when he got home, and let it go. It has never been back since. I would be too worried it might die of hypothermia while I was at work though.

I've always wanted a paintball gun marker though. I suspect it would only be a temporary deterrent, and I would have to stake out the kitchen every couple of weeks...

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