Pete Cross' cat Elmo shows off the PetInspect, a data-logger and wireless communications device that lets you discover what environment your pet experiences and how it behaves while you're not around.
I agree cool project. My Mom's cat will not wear a collar either. My Dad use to put a collar with a bell on him but he always found a way to take it off.
For tracking devices, the genre falls into LBS, or Location-Based-Services. LBS devices generally have some type of transceiver (I've developed many; from GPS to WAN-cellular, to RFID and even ZigBee protocols), and then the big kicker: a significant battery for the transceiver. All this adds up to a relatively larger volume than what is depicted in this device shown, which I liken more to a collection of sensory collectors.
It doesn't look like it. I've use the 'Loc8tor' for keeping track of my cats and dogs. It provides directional (arrows) as well as distance (sound) information up to about 600'. The same company has other products that work from further distances, but not as precise.
I'd bet money this could be a successful product. Dog and cat owners now spend fairly large amounts of money for shots and veterinary bills. This cost of this product might be small by comparison.
@pete.cross: That's a very interesting master's thesis ("Control, communication and monitoring of intravaginal drug delivery in dairy cows"). I'd imagine that getting a cat to wear a collar is very simple in comparison.
If you want your cat to wear a collar, then it's best to start with them when they are young. They just expect that to be normal from then on.
If you try anything like this at home, then please do use a proper collar bought from a pet store. Cats can be strangled in the event they get it hooked up on a branch. That's extremely rare and can be avoided entirely by buying one designed to break when that happens. I just bought a cheap flea collar for this project. It is designed to expand and break under the weight of the cat.
Andrew Morris designed a circuit that could detect a stroke victim's groan and convert the sound into a signal so caregivers would know when help was needed.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
7 
