Automatic spray deterrent

Projects General Guidance
1

Like most cats, mine like to roam on my counters when I'm not around. I'm looking to build an automated sprayer system to help deter them from jumping up. I'm kind of surprised nothing off the shelf exists for this. There are some motion detecting ones, but it has too many false positives for humans walking around the room.

Any recommendations for what mechanisms I should build to trigger a gentle mist/spray of water? I could try to rig something to depress a spray bottle, or look into using a pump with a solenoid valve, but some of the off the shelf parts might be excessive for this use case.

I'm pretty sure I can figure out the cat detection algorithm once I have some spray I can trigger.

Any guidance is much appreciated.

2

Welcome to the forum

How is your system going to distinguish between a human and a cat ?

You don't need a spray to prove that it works. Print a message when a cat is detected

3

I was thinking of a module like HuskyLens, though I could also try sending the video to my local computer and playing with ultralytics or tensorflow.

4

My advice would be to get the cat detection working before going any further. Compared to that, activating a spray will be be simple

5

I've recently had good success using a TOF sensor.

I'm not sure which of the several I got from Adafruit is the one I've deployed, I assume they would all work like whichever it is.

I've set up the detection zone so the beam sees nothing until/unless something actually reflects it, an area about half a meter long.

The example code was enough to get going, I worked out some filtering to minimise false sightings.

The modules are a bit spendy compared to regular Arduino stuff, but are worth it IMO.

Beware of similar sounding and cheaper sensors that don't do nearly the job of dealing with ambient light variations and so forth.

HTH

BTW: good luck - no cat I've known would learn much or even put up with this; some cats I've known would make you regret trying. :expressionless:

a7

6

Oh that's an interesting sensor. Could be great to help reduce false positives.

7

Won’t you get back to wet counters ?

“I'm kind of surprised nothing off the shelf exists for this.”

Probably because it’s very difficult to do . Why not just have an IR beam to trigger your spray , and turn it off when you are in the room ? ( so you don’t get wet) That is easily done .

8

Does your cat wear a collar with an RFID tag? To trigger a cat flap/door for example?

I know many cats have RFID tags implanted, but I think those tags use a different system to the most common tags and I don't know if there is an Arduino compatible reader for implanted tags.

But if you can find a reader for a collar RFID tag with a range of maybe a meter, could that work?

9

Nice, another interesting idea. They do have RFID tags implanted and we use it for their cat feeders.

I did purchase the huskylens 2, so I'll see how that goes with detection when it comes. In theory it has built in click-to-train for new objects, so I'd probably need to add training for my counter boundaries, then add related code to detect a cat on a counter.

Though I could also keep it simple depending on what's in frame for where I place the camera.

10

Supposedly to be sold as a kit or assembled. Fun video. Uses an RPi and image recognition.

11

A low-tech non-Arduino solution would be to put a 8-16 oz weight on the cat collar and he can’t jump up to the counter.

12

Aww too bad it isn't ready yet for a diy kit.

13

Probably because cat owners like cats for being cats and don't expect cats be dogs.

Try adding a wide strip of foil to your surfaces. The cat will determine if it understands the message.

14

I'll need to wait for my parts to come, but I sketched out some project basics here: GitHub - gwwar/myaotron: Cat-on-counter detection and deterrent system using HUSKYLENS 2 · GitHub

None of this is tested yet, so let me know if you spot hallucinations.

I do have an PetSafe SSSCAT lying around, so I might as well see if I can reuse parts.

15

What the hell?

16

We did already try the sticky tape and foil techniques. It's mainly a safety thing so my cats won't attempt to jump onto the induction stove.

18

The foil (wide strips) should be loose, so it reacts (moves, crinkles) to their steps.

For the stove top (hot and not); put lids over the hot surface until the heat is non-burning to your own skin (yes, you will touch-test to determine burning). A very hot surface that you can touch and not be injured is a good training tool (because the cat will not be hurt, but will not want to step on that again). Cats will always be curious, and will return to that area. Entertain them elsewhere. I helped friends bring their cats from "under couch/atop cabinets" to interactive, playful, human-seeking. It took months, but was worth the time.

19

If you went in kitchen , you would be nervous of misreadings giving you a soaking and/or the cat jumps up in your presence triggering it