Cat or Dog Door -Know when your pet is out

[aquariumvideo]

I don't have a dog door on my house, but this could prove useful. A switch attached to the dog door to let you know when your cat is outside/inside. Could update to email or use lcd display.

[briandunnington]

not exactly the same, but i did use the IO-Bridge to create a system that lets my dog tell me when he wants to come back inside. i didnt write up a post specifically about it, but i did mention it in an unrelated thread on another forum:

http://groups.google.com/group/growl-for-windows/msg/875f298ac33699e0

as i mentioned over there, the entire Rube-Goldbergesque system looks like this:

dog wants in >> modified doorbell switch inside a giant push button;dog pushes button >> sends signal wirelessly to modified doorbell base station >> base station has been hacked so that instead of playing a melody, it triggers a circuit >> IO-bridge monitors circuit for state change >> IO-bridge sends email alert on state change >> custom app receives email and fires Growl notification

[SMyers]

I really like that idea. Does your dog have to actively push the button (ie did you have to train him to push it) or is it just located under the doormat and his weight activates the switch?

[briandunnington]

I really like that idea. Does your dog have to actively push the button (ie did you have to train him to push it) or is it just located under the doormat and his weight activates the switch?

he has to actively push the button - i just mounted the doorbell switch inside of one of the 'push button lights' (http://store.diyhut.com/taponliglika.html) so it is a nice big target.

i didnt even think of triggering it by weight, but then anybody coming through the door would also trigger it.

[aquariumvideo]

cool idea.

Was it hard to teach him how to do it?