Since a while I’m thinking about automating a cat flap, but I have no idea where to start… Hopefully somebody can help me, or point me towards the right directions.
Situation
The cat flap is NOT going to be placed outside, but inside. So it is not necesary to have RFID chips checked. The cat is not allowed into the living room when we are not at home. When we are at home the cat is allowed into the living room. Nowadays have the door open, but with winter coming this will give use some draft (i mean cold air flowing, not sure if this is the proper English word for it).
Since (my own build) presence detection is working perfectly, this can be easily build into flows.
The Challenge
The challenge is to have a cat flap which can be remotely managed. Preferably 4 settings: Closed, Open, Only in, Only out. But with only open I’m happy to.
Solution possibilities
This is the point where I’m stuck. I prefer Z-wave above Wi-Fi, but most of the sensors are fore measuring and not for controlling something. Also the fibaro binary sensor needs an input before output can be triggered. I am also familiar with Arduino programming, but am lacking the electrical possibilities. Thinking about a electrical magnet or something…
@HansieNL thanks for your reply. I’ve searched there but it is all stand alone. I’m really looking for integration.
For example: there are cat flaps which react on a magnet which cat’s are wearing. Would it work if I build something with an electro magnet, which I put close to the cat flap and which is working on the moments I want.
I have looked into that one, but I’m not sure if I want to connect it directly to the internet this way. Also they don’t seem to have an public API available (yet): Link. So it’s not possible to connect it to Homey right now.
Very interesting! One solution that comes to mind would be to add a z-wave (low-voltage) dual relay module and two 24V door strikes. The door strikes would live on each side of the flap which in turn would be actuated by the dual relay. So you could easily have one of either side open/both sides open/or both sides closed.
Thanks for your response, I have been thinking about that as well, but then I have to manually make the cat flap. I prefer (sorry I think I’m a little bit picky here), to reuse the parts of an existing cat flap. I’m really inspired by this one: Youtube
If something like that is the base, then adding a Z-wave or Arduino shoudn’t be the hard part.
An other idea was, using a cat flap which react on magnets (which the cats are wearing around the neck). Then ‘fake’ this magnet by adding a electro magnet near the sensor which is on on the moments they are allowed to pass and off when they arent. Only problem there is, that smart cats seem to open these things from the outside: Link
A solution could be based on Bluetooth iBeacon e.g. “Happy Bubbles” (or similar solutions) - but it’s not possible to buy at the moment.
Look at Happy Bubbles
