Interactive Cat Toy - Defining Requirements - IPC Final Project

On last Thursday I had a brief meeting with Tom to talk about my final project. Per my previous posts on this subject, I have decided to create an interactive cat toy. Over the past several days I have been working on the design of this device so that I can identify what parts I need to order. Here is a brief update regarding my toy concept, the new solutions and problems have arisen, and what components I am considering for this project.

Updates to the Concept
For the most part my cat toy concept has remained unchanged. The focus of the design is still the situated interaction between a cat and human and the main components have remained unchanged - the human participant will use an arcade-like joystick to control the laser, the sound and the arm. The cat will interact with these three elements of the toy.

Here is a quick overview of the changes that are under consideration: first, I would like to add an auto mode to this device to enable a cat to interact with the toy without human participation. The toy’s arm would self-activate and move randomly anytime it senses motion within a 40-cm distance. Second, I would like to create a game for the human participant when s/he is engaged with the toy. This will be a much bigger challenge that will likely not be addressed in my initial prototype.

New Solutions and Problems
Switching between modes: I have made a conscious attempt to limit the number of virtual modes provided by this device. For example, I have attempted to design this toy so that each joystick controls only one element of the toy. That said, the following modes will still exist in my design:

• On and off modes – as with most electronic gadgets, this cat toy will feature on and off modes that will be controlled by a rocker switch on the base of the toy.
• Interactive and automatic modes – as discussed in the “updates to the concept” section above, this toy will feature a secondary operation mode where it will sense and react to a cat’s presence/proximity. Control will be governed by a switch on the joystick controller.
• Game and freestyling modes – if a game-like element is added to the human participant’s interaction in the future, then we will want to provide the option for cat owners to select between a game and freestyle mode.

Controlling the sound: Earlier today Arturo, another cat lover from ITP, brought up an important consideration that I had previously ignored. Cats are sensitive to sound; this realization previously led to my decision to add bird sounds this device. However, I had not considered that the other side of this coin: cats are easily turned off or scared away by sounds. Therefore, I need to make sure to find a quiet motor for this toy so that it does not scare away cats.

Earlier today I carried out a small experiment to observe Sasha’s response to the servo motor’s sound. Check out the short video below for a quick overview of my observations.



Proximity sensing: In order to add the automatic mode that I envision for this device I need to find a proximity sensing solution. My main requirement is that this solution needs to enable the toy to identify when a cat passes a certain threshold so that the appropriate functionality can be activated. Per this description I only need a digital, rather than analog, solution.

Finding the Right Parts
Considering my goal is to have an initial working prototype by early next week, I have started to identify the specific components that I want to use on this project. Some of these items I have already ordered, while others will be ordered later this week once I decide what is the best option. Here is an overview of the selection process.

Movement and Motors
To move the arm and laser pointer I originally considered using servo motors. However, due to concerns regarding the sound generated by these types of components I am now leaning towards using stepper motors instead. I carried out a good bit of research to find a servo motor that is silent, unfortunately, this does not seem to be a coveted feature for these types of motors. Here are some of the best sources for servos that I found online – robotshop and servocity.

Another consideration regarding the movement of the arm and laser beam, is the need for a mechanism that supports both panning and tilting. I was able to find a few pan and tilt mechanisms for sale on the servocity website. These options seem robust and only a bit expensive. That said, since I have decided to use a stepper motor I will need to find other options or create my own.

Control and Switches
For the controller I have purchased the most important components – the joysticks and buttons. Where possible, I chose components that have an arcade-like or video game feel. Here is an overview of my selections:

This component has a great arcade like feel. It will be the main joystick on the controller and it will govern the movement of the arm with feathers. Cost and size considerations have led to my decision not to use this joystick for controlling the laser.

This small PS2-like joystick will be used to control the laser pointer. This joystick also incorporates a push button that will be used to turn on and off the laser device. The small size of this joystick denotes the secondary priority of this interaction element in comparison to the arm.

This light blue arcade-style button will be used to trigger the bird sounds. I have purchased 4 buttons in total, so that four separate sounds can be included in this prototype.

In regards to generating and controlling the sounds, I had originally planned to use one of the following two components: the WaveShield from Adafruit or the MP3 Trigger from Sparkfun. That said, based on advice from Tom (and my desire to minimize additional costs associated to building this prototype), I have decided to use my computer to generate the sound in the initial prototype. If all goes well with the user testing (or should I say cat testing) then I will likely add one of these components to the toy so that a computer does not need to be used.

To sense the cat’s presence/proximity I have decided to use a Sharp infrared range finder. This little component can sense ranges between 3 and 40 cm. It is ideal for my requirements because I plan to use this sensor for threshold detection within a small range only. It is much cheaper than the ultrasonic range finder options.

To turn the device on and off I plan to use a rocker switch similar to one pictured below from Sparkfun. To toggle between interactive and auto modes I will use a slide switch similar to the one from RadioShack that is featured in the picture below.

Additional Considerations
One additional consideration that I have not addressed is how to keep this cat toy “fresh”. Cats are extremely finicky animals and often grow tired of their toys after about 3 to 4 weeks. As I move forward with the design and development of my initial prototypes I will be looking for ideas on how to address this concern.

New Possibilities
In typical fashion, before I have even really gotten started with my current cat toy project I am already considering many improvements, updates, and related products. Here is a brief overview of two ideas I will consider incorporating into this or future projects (though not by finals time).

(1) I would like to use the toy as a medium for a game between the human and the cat. Initial ideas range from simple to complex. On the simple end we could add a counter to the proximity sensor and time the length of the cats presence in that proximity. We could also add a sensor to the arm so that it could sense when a cat is able to grab one of its feather. On the complex end we could use a video camera and together with a projector and the laser pointer, and have the human moving the laser beam around in an attempt to guide the cat to catch falling birds (which would be projected on the wall). The computer vision would be used to read images from the video camera to determine when the cat was able to catch the falling birds.

(2) Rather than have a cat toy that attempts to woe the cat, create a cat toy that can move around the room and is controlled via remote. I would still envision this cat toy having a remote controlled arm, though this arm would likely be designed differently (for example, it would have a 360-degrees motion since it would not be positioned against a wall).