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Here's how you can make a laser toy to entertain your cat for hours

Here's how you can make a laser toy to entertain your cat for hours

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Figuring out how to keep pets entertained can be quite tiring. No, you don't really feel like playing catch with your dog after a long day at work, or dangling strings in front of your cat to stop them from destroying every piece of furniture in sight. Luckily for the tinkerers among us, there is a way to keep your feline entertained for hours without you having to constantly buy new cat toys. You just need to have an affinity for assembling electronics.

La Fabrique DIY has provided a video of how to build the device, dubbed "cat laser tower." Text and photo instructions are available on Imgur.

The laser tower is glued to an Arduino board and attached to a laser module, all enclosed in an old Altoids box. The tower is composed of two SG90 micro servos, attached to a pan / tilt camera platform camera mount, allowing it to move the laser dot around like a jumping insect. The instruction also suggests adding a resistor to weaken the laser brightness. You don't want to give your cat a headache, after all.

Laser gadgets are not new in the pet space. Petcube Play, which allows owners to keep an eye on their fury creatures even when they're not in the same location, comes with a built-in laser toy that allows pet owners to play with their pet when they're not home. The product was initially launched on Kickstarter and according to a recent post on their Kickstarter page, it's almost ready for shipping.

For the DIY-inclined, however, this cat laser device might be a better (and cheaper) option.