Cats, lasers and Raspberry Pi | Hacker News Reader

Cats, lasers and Raspberry Pi

raspberrypi.org

I built this using an Arduino board once for my roommate's cat.

It played with it for a little while quickly lost interest, despite how much I tweaked the randomization algorithm. (I tried stuff like truly random points, random jumps, slow movement, etc. etc.)

I figured out that she played much longer when I did it by hand. I realized that when I did it manually, I'd wait for her to catch the dot and then move immediately, so I thought about making something that tracked where the cat was, too, but never got around to it.

I think you might be able to detect that the cat caught the dot by identifying an unplanned motion of the dot itself.

That's an excellent point and it sounds very easy to implement.

The problem is cats get no reward from catching the red dot. For some it can be a stressful as they need to catch the prey. The key is top reward them with a treat or toy once they have caught the dot.

Just like humans, endlessly chasing something that gives no rewards can lead to undesirable outcomes and behaviours.

Indeed. Please do not do this to your cat. It will frustrate him/her, if you don't believe me, ask your vet.

Some cats are smart enough to know it's humans controlling it and enjoy chase as a bonding exercise. In fact the often repeated arguement that cats are solitary creatures who don't enjoy companionship can be quite far removed from the personalities of some cats.

I kinda want to setup a laser play toy for my cat, but have it "end" at a box that opens with a servo with some treats.

That or maybe some steppers to move a stick around that has a string at the end (my cat's favorite). Hmm....

Is the consensus that as long as they have something physical to play with, or in the case of a laser have a reward after - then it won't stress them?

What I do is I let the cat catch the dot, and right where the dot was, throw a treat. So it's almost like the treat came out as a response to cat catching the dot. I could automate this, but I won't because it's so much fun for me too.

She loves it. I also make a 'buzzing' sound with my mouth whenever the dot is out. This does an amazing job at training the cat to come running to me whenever I make that 'zzzzzz' sound (which can save their lives at times).

I get what you are saying, but one of my cats is really fucking lazy so the only time she runs around is to chase the damn laser pointer. Yeah I guess I could also give her treats. But she's so fat, I don't know if that's good either.

Well if a child loves to play mario kart with you, but very rarely plays mario kart against the AI, the key takeaway should not be "I will lock myself in a room to build a mario kart AI that plays like me". Just spend time with the living creature if you love it.

My two offspring take up every breathing second of my life after my wife & work.. cat comes after all that which doesn't leave much time.

Not a treat, but even a toy works. Something they can "get". You want to complete the hunt/catch routine.

Even better is to then only feed them after this. The have a very repeatable hunt/eat/groom/sleep cycle.

This was written in the article:

> Some cats don’t like lasers. They find it far too upsetting when they can’t catch what it is they’re chasing. If your cat starts to pant while chasing lasers, don’t assume it’s just exhausted. Panting can be a sign of stress in cats, and stressed is something your cat shouldn’t be. Exercise caution when playing with your cat and laser toys, and consult a vet if you’re unsure whether their behaviour is normal.

Side note: some dogs also seem to enjoy & request laser pointers.

We bought our pets a pre-built version of this for Christmas. They seem to enjoy it randomly going off during the day when we're not around or busy.

Side side note: Eastern gray squirrels, Steller’s jays, and assorted chickadee and junco species completely ignore my green laser.

I expected them to chase it, run away from it, or at least look at it a bit to determine if it was a threat, but no, I have not see any reaction at all.

These are animals in the wild? I personally think that pets are generally understimulated and more likely to respond to artifices like laser points.

Like how rats were shown to get addicted to cocaine/morphine and waste away due to ignoring food/etc....when the rats were housed in tiny boxes with no other rats to socialize with, and no objects/toys to interact with except for the cocaine/opiate dispenser. However, when provided with a vibrant community of other rats and a highly stimulating environment, rats seem to generally not get addicted to narcotics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Park

It's likely that for an animal which spends most of its time in an apartment where most of the time everyone is either gone (at work) or sleeping, a laser pointer is highly stimulating. For animals who spend their lives outdoors, sensory signals related to predators, prey, food, habitat, companions, mates, and enemies....could be much much more stimulating than a laser pointer.

Jumping spiders (yes, wild ones) will chase lasers. They have excellent eyesight, unlike a lot of spiders.

https://youtu.be/mQpZEwGxn7I

Have you tried red laser?

Note that using laser pointers to play with dogs is NOT recommended. It can cause stress and behavioral problems. See also: https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/lifestyle/laser-pointers-m...

Why do they use a Raspberry Pi for this?

Seems like some Arduino-style microcontroller for $2 could do this just as well.

In fairness the Raspberry Pi is only $5 so it’s not like it’s a huge deal

Hmm, why _does_ RaspberryPi.org use a Raspberry Pi for this? I guess we'll never know.

Yeah, you're right, my bad. -_-"

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