hi, I’m hoping to build a toy for my cat. It’s just a laser pointer that reacts to motion. What hardware do you recommend to control a laser pointer?
Hey there!
There are multiple ways of doing this project.
The easiest way I can see would be to have an Arduino drive a pan/tilt module in a random sequence.
Pan/tilt: https://www.robotshop.com/en/jsumo-robopan-micro-pan-tilt.html
Arduino: https://www.robotshop.com/en/arduino-uno-r3-usb-microcontroller.html
Note that you will have to find a way to fix the laser on the pan/tilt module and keep the laser ON.
Be very careful with this kind of project since a laser can cause damage to eyes if pointed directly in.*
I wouldn’t recommend using this kind of device in your home if you have young children
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Awesome! Thank you very much. I will buy these parts and start reading the tutorials.
Eventually I will want to programmatically turn the laser on/off and add motion detection. Any quick advice there for parts? Perhaps a standalone laser unit that can attach to the pan/tilt?
John
To detect motion you can use a simple PIR: https://www.robotshop.com/en/pir-motion-sensor-sfe.html
See documentation here: https://www.robotshop.com/media/files/pdf/Did_It_Move.pdf
If you manage to build the project, I would be interested to see it in action in our ‘Robots’ section!
Good luck!
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You can also find a product that seems to do all what you are looking for: https://www.robotshop.com/en/magic-dot-cat-toy.html
But it wouldn’t be as fun as building the whole project.
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Thanks again. I see that the delay is 2 seconds though. That would be way too slow for a cat. Do you know a way to make a laser/servo react faster (500ms or less)?
I made the project! It was pretty easy and a lot of fun for my first time arduino project!
Hi,
I’m glad to see the final project!
I got to say good job on that one.
Feel free to post your project in the Robot or Tutorial section, I’m sure a lot of people would be happy to create it.
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