Cats may be cute and cuddly, but they are undoubtedly predators. This can become a problem for local biodiversity – and cause one or the other moment of disgust for the owners. Because it is not uncommon for captured mice, birds and rats, or parts of them, to be placed in the hallway or living room at home or, if they are still alive, hunted down.
The twins Oliver and Denis Widler, themselves cat owners and founders of a start-up at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, now want the last-mentioned problem solved. They developed an AI cat flap called Flappie, which acts as a kind of bouncer and only lets the mini tigers in when they don’t have prey in their mouths.
AI flap works like face recognition
The flap is equipped with a motion detector, infrared camera and infrared lighting and is controlled by an algorithm that works similar to face recognition software. If the AI detects live or dead prey in the cat’s mouth, the flap will be locked.
“You can’t get in here”: The developed cat flap only opens if the prey stays in front of the door.
(Image: ETH Zurich / Flappie Technologies)
The pets apparently grasp the mechanism after just a few attempts. “We found that, contrary to popular belief, cats are amazingly intelligent and quickly learn to let go of their prey when they want to come inside,” says Oliver Widler, the team’s engineer. The test group currently includes 15 households with cats that have been provided with the first prototypes of the AI-controlled flap.
The company’s founders trained the AI on a wide variety of cat views and movement patterns, and also manipulated them to increase the number of training data. “The first step was to recognize that the cat has something in its mouth,” reports Widler. However, the system does not provide information on the type of prey.
Statistics, smart home and vet mode
The AI cat flap can be coupled with an app that, among other things, provides the owner with photos and videos of what is happening in front of the flap on their cell phone. “And the animal owners can, if they want, contribute to statistics, for example how many animals of which species are caught,” says Widler. It is important to the inventor duo that “the entire calculation takes place on the flap and not on the server of some external company. This ensures a high level of data security.”
Like the flaps that are already available today, Flappie can also recognize the household cat by a microchip. The app can then be used to set a “vet mode”, for example. If, for example, a cat is not allowed to go outside because of an illness or injury, the flap remains closed. “If only one cat is affected, this can also be individualized,” says the engineer.
Last but not least, the flap functions should be able to be integrated into a smart home system. For example, it could be specified there that the vet mode is switched off when the fire alarm goes off.
Manufacture AI cat flap in series
The team is now preparing to industrialize the AI cat flap. “For example, we used to produce the plastic housing for the flap using a 3D printer. Of course, that’s not scalable,” says Widler. That’s why the team is currently testing how well common injection molding processes are suitable for production. And it still has to get the certifications needed for the electronics. The cat flap with bouncer function is to go into series production from autumn 2023.
But the Widler brothers are not alone in the market with their idea. The “Pawly” team has also developed an intelligent cat flap. The developers are also graduates of ETH Zurich. They already presented a first prototype in 2021. It will be implemented via a Kickstarter campaign. So there are two projects in the starting blocks to alleviate the suffering of cat owners. According to an international study, a cat kills up to 130 animals a year. She brings home a good 40.
(Older brother)