Adding access control to CATaLOG June 24
In the past few weeks we've been having problems with another cat coming into the house. Rather than invest in a magnetic catflap for £30, I bought a standard RC servo from Heliguy (excellent service btw - free delivery and arrived the next day) for £7 and added it to CATaLOG.
The video below shows it in operation.
The servo is connected to pin 9 of the Arduino, one of two pins which are capable of PWM output without affecting other code, and uses the basic servo library to turn the servo 180 degrees, wait a few seconds, and then turn it back
In the video I push Tuffin's manual in/out button to trigger the servo - in the live code the servo only operates when it detects Bobbin or Tuffin via the RFID reader. The lights you see flashing are the ethernet interface activity lights attempting to send a tweet and update the status :)
It needs a few tweaks to make it completely reliable (don't want the cats getting locked out!), but once it is I'll add a section to the project pages with more details.
CATaLOG enclosure complete June 18
Finally finished machining the enclosure for CATaLOG. Here it is:
The Arduino is mounted onto the stripboard with a simple velcro pad (hence it being at a slight angle) so it can be removed for working on / debugging or moved slightly when inserting the ethernet cable etc.
The posts to support the lcd were made with the help of my Dad and his lathe. I'll document the process over on the project pages when I get the chance.
Adding an external antenna to CATaLOG May 11
I made a new antenna this weekend for the RFID reader used in CATaLOG. The old coil is on the left, and the new one on right.
The system is more reliable now but could still be improved. I've documented how I added the external antenna and made the new coil over on the project pages.
CATaLOG talk video April 27
The video of my CATaLOG talk at Ignite Cardiff (complete with microphone feedback) is now available over on YouTube.
The slides are available as a PDF here
CATaLOG in testing April 15
CATaLOG is now all wired up, sitting in a temporary housing and in testing. You can view the live status of the cats over at http://catalog.nermal.net or follow them on Twitter.
You can see the two push buttons used to set each cat in or out should they run through an open door rather than the cat flap or evade the sensor in some way, as well as the Linksys WAP11 acting as a network bridge to link the system to the house WIFI network.
I've been pleased with the results so far. The RFID reader is mounted to the cat flap with velcro for now so I can move it to find the most reliable location. I think the magnet on the cat flap might not be helping the signal any, and I think I'll need to install the IR beams to counteract Bobbin just sticking her head through.