Kevin’s Cat Wheel Activity Tracker
CRASH member Kevin Jordan is worried about his fat cat.
His fat cat needs more exercise, and like many of us, would greatly benefit from the motivation that comes from a little healthy competition. Unfortunately, we live in a world of tyranny and injustice, and there are no features on the many popular fitness trackers that are cat-friendly.
But like a true maker, Kevin has taken action.
[fve]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sldCSWof-Q[/fve]
In his own words:
“My wheel from OneFastCat needed something. I wanted my cat to be able to compete on Strava with other cats but there was nothing available. Strava is a website and mobile app used to track athletic activity via GPS.
So, I made this system.
It is a breakbeam sensor connected with a Raspberry Pi computer. A fin on the outside of the wheel breaks the path of the sensor. Each rotation is mapped into a GPS location in the real world, moving 3.5 meters per rotation. After 100 seconds of no activity, the Raspberry Pi automatically upload’s to Toonces’ Strava page. The system resets automatically for the next wheel run.
Next up: Figuring a way for Toonces to run on the wheel without interaction from me. He can drive a car, but can’t run on a wheel.
Do you even Strava, cat?”
For more information, check out his blog idreamincode!
This is awesome! The vet recently told me I should put my Professor Von Luttenberg on a diet… I’m curious if you still get your kitty on this and if the kitty dies indeed use it on her own ever? And if it’s helped her at all be more active?
This is an old post but you ask for suggestions and I think a moving laser light (the red dot type) inside the wheel might help by giving her something to chase after.
I taped some sticks and cat toys to my Roomba in the past and it’s a quick hack type way to exercise a cat while cleaning the floor but the Professor is onto my trickery now. I need to up my cat game. Thanks for the inspiration!