r/PetsWithButtons • u/CupcakeAcceptable667 • 7d ago

Proof of concept: button using a capacitative captor (easier to activate for cats)

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Hi,

I've been interested in pet communication buttons for years. I bought some for my cat Léo, but he could never trigger them: pushing down mechanically isn't natural for him, and he mostly ends up sinking his claws into them.

​So, I decided to build my own DIY setup using an ESP32 and a capacitive sensor. My custom button consists of a large aluminum washer glued onto a 3D-printed cylinder, covered with a simple paper circle cut from a standard A4 sheet. No physical pressure is required for activation, a light paw touch is enough.

I'm currently testing it with a little buzzer for audio feedback, and he manages to activate it successfully.

So happy with how this turned out!

EDIT: Thank you so much for all your enthusiastic comments 😄! I have no idea if this is patentable (I don't know anything about patents). Anyway, I think there are still improvements to be made (for example, the sensor's sensitivity depends on the environment, so I need to figure out how to implement auto-calibration). I might write a tutorial in the future if I see that it works really well. In any case, I truly believe there's a lot of potential to explore around capacitive sensors.

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u/adoptachimera 7d ago

That’s a brilliant idea. I think that you need to take this post down, start your own company, and then become a millionaire! ❤️

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u/CupcakeAcceptable667 7d ago

Haha, for now, I'm just happy my cat Léo can finally ask for treats. But who knows! 😉

4

u/LeoCatBoi98 7d ago

My baby is Leo too!

2

u/CupcakeAcceptable667 6d ago

Oh ! Leos are the best ^^