Sunday, February 6, 2011

Cat sprinkler project

I love cats, but it has been necessary to build something to deter our local cats from rumaging through our bin bags! It is not as simple as putting the rubbish in a wheelie bin or container as we live on a hill - it would be difficult to get the bin up and down the steps. The driveway is sloped (wheelie bin would fall over!) and the garage is under the house which would stink the place out! Instead, I dug up the patio with the help from my father and step mother (shown in video) and layed a water pipe. This is attached to a solenoid valve under the sink. The solenoid valve is connected to a computer in the roof via input/output cards. Here is how it works: * If any external door is opened or movement is detected (except cats!) the system is deactivated for 5 minutes * The Redwall PIR at the end of the passageway detects a cat (system must be armed) * The first activation is ignored * A second activation now triggers the start sequence * The PIR is now ignored. Motion is now detected from the camera - there is a 'motion detection grid' setup around the rubbish bags, movement outside this area is ignored (such as a cat walking through) * Motion must be detected 4 times in the bin area. This can be seen on the vacuum fluorescent displays by the flashing fish - each new activation flashes a new part of the graphical fish! * After 4 activations, the 10 second countdown starts - this also triggers live recording from the camera * In the last 5 seconds of the countdown, motion ...

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