Automatic Window for Cat

My cat likes to wander around in the garden. But now winter is coming it is to cold to keep my window open for the cat. So i used an arduino to open the window when the cat jumps on table indoor or on the windowsill outdoors

For your home

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Description

My window spans two floors which was a big advantage in this case. The window cannot open far enough for any intruder to go in and i could install the steppermoter on the second floor where it is out of the way.

I installed the stepper motor upstairs and attached it with only one screw so it can rotate a bit. This is neccesary because the window frame doesn't move along a line but along a curve. It also enables you to move the threaded rod out off the nutholder so you can manually open and close the window.

To attach the threaded rod to the axis of the stepper you'll need couplings. My Stepper motor has a pulley fixed on it so i had to use the couplings that i also uploaded. For a normal stepper motor you can find lots of couplings by searching for Z coupling on Thingiverse.

I used a lasercutter to cut the nutholderpieces from 5mm birch plywood. I drilled a little hole in the top so i could use a pin to keep the threaded rod inside the nutholder. If i want to manually open the window i can take the pin out and move the threaded rod out of the nutholder.

Now you have a motor that can open and close a window. Next thing is the electronics to control the motor. I used an Arduino uno  with a shield that allowed me to connect a steppermotor, 2 sensors ,a 12v powersupply, some leds and a stepper motor driver. I made the shield from a piece of prototyping board

You can find the schematics and the code for the uno in the documents.

To connect the pir motion sensors to the shield i used an old network cable, it has 8 threads of which i only needed 6.

Materials and methods

Nema 17 stepper motor
z-coupling
M8 threaded rod
M8 nut
Nutholder
Screws
cables and connectors
Arduino Uno
prototyping board (e.g. ROTH RE315-HP)
leds
resistors (~220 Ohm)
female headers 2.54mm
male headers 2.54mm
stepperdriver
pir motion sensors
casings for pir sensors and arduino
12v dc powersupply

tools:
screwdriver
solder iron
crimp tool
lasercutter
3d printer

Documents

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Comments

9b7697526b994066c2f6287fe715aaa9?default=blank&size=40Kritec added this to the stuff collection ago
Mini  sushi chops trans more centeredSushi Desires added this to the Electronics collection ago
Mini  sushi chops trans more centeredSushi Desires added this to the Gears, Threads, Bearings, Pulleys, & Other Interfaces collection ago
Mini  sushi chops trans more centeredSushi Desires added this to the Home collection ago
Mini  sushi chops trans more centeredSushi Desires added this to the Mechanisms collection ago
Mini  sushi chops trans more centeredSushi Desires commented ago

This is pretty cool, I have thought about trying something like this, but with a cat elevator. I wonder if a passive rfid tag on his/her collar has a good enough detection range to work similarly

Mini elfen lied 11 thumb large 1 Da6oN added this to the House collection ago
Mini draaimolenMonique de Wilt published this design ago