I probably don’t have to tell you that chasing a laser pointer is something cats love to do. But there are many of us who either don’t have enough time to play with our cats, or maybe we need a way to distract the cats while cooking, or say, typing on a laptop. This laser plays with your cat for you. This device consists of a 3d printed case holding 2 servos and a laser pointer, batteries, a switch, and a small micro-controller. The software that is uploaded cycles through 12 functions at random. I made the functions by playing with my cats with a laser pointer, and when they responded to something I would translate that to code.
If you don’t have access to a 3d printer you can still build this using any small project enclosure, and any reasonable way of sticking the servos and laser together. My first prototype used velcro on servo horns and it worked fine it was just ugly. There are also a number of cheap pan tilt mechanisms available but be aware that if they mount differently it may change the way the patterns are projected.
Above is a video showing my cats playing with the CheetahBeam. There is also a way to calibrate the device to the size of your space! We don’t want the laser pointing out the window onto the street below. You can roughly change the play area by pulling off either servo mount or laser mount and rotating the desired angle before pressing back on. If you are comfortable programming in arduino you can change a few lines of code to have even more control over the area the laser covers.
Adafruit Pro Trinket – 5V 16MHz: Trinket’s got a big sister in town – the Pro Trinket 5V! Pro Trinket combines everything you love about Trinket with the familiarity of the common core Arduino chip, the ATmega328. It’s like an Arduino Pro Mini with more pins and USB tossed in, so delicious. Read more.
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!
Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: The latest on Raspberry Pi RP2350-E9, Bluetooth 6, 4,000 Stars and more! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi
EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey
