Steve Winter of Berkeley, CA designed Counter Intelligence to catch his cats trying to investigate the kitchen counter when he and his wife are not around. Steve used an Arduino Nano with a Maxbotix ultrasonic rangefinder to monitor the countertop. If the rangefinder senses something close by—say, a feline—it fires a toy gun that makes a “p-tang laser sound.” The knob controls the distance that is being monitored and the flexible monopod allows him to point the rangefinder/gun anywhere he needs to. Not only that, but the suction cup base on the monopod lets him mount it almost anywhere (such as the refrigerator). When asked how well it works, Steve says that “the cats are not deterred by the tiny toy laser gun but we get great amusement from it. We know when the cats are on the kitchen counter, but by the time we walk to the kitchen the cats are long gone (undoubtedly laughing at us from the other end of the house).”
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