Cat Lasers

I've been looking for options to keep the cat busy while being away and found the interesting project of the automated cat laser

https://maniacallabs.com/2013/08/26/automatic-cat-lasers/

Now my last programming has been years ago and electronics is also not my specialty :wink:

But seems like just using a constant 3.3V power supply and a smart plug would not be too complicated to achieve that goal.

Which other parts would I need to achieve this and where would I hook them up? Basically, the goal would be to turn on the power supply, switch the laser on, then let it run for 15 minutes. Then switch power off and turn back on on a schedule.

Ideas would be much appreciated

What about using something like this:

https://www.adafruit.com/product/1967

That would give you pan/tilt movement in a neat little package. Maybe then rig up a cheap laser pointer (or just a laser diode) to be powered off of the power supply for the microcontroller operating the servos. That way, as soon as the power supply is turned on (via the smart outlet, as you mentioned), the laser would turn on and dance about for a bit, then turn off once the smart outlet shut off.

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On Thursday, December 6, 2018 at 10:16:51 PM UTC-5, Sebastian Kasputtis wrote:

I’ve been looking for options to keep the cat busy while being away and found the interesting project of the automated cat laser
https://maniacallabs.com/2013/08/26/automatic-cat-lasers/

Now my last programming has been years ago and electronics is also not my specialty :wink:

But seems like just using a constant 3.3V power supply and a smart plug would not be too complicated to achieve that goal.

Which other parts would I need to achieve this and where would I hook them up? Basically, the goal would be to turn on the power supply, switch the laser on, then let it run for 15 minutes. Then switch power off and turn back on on a schedule.

Ideas would be much appreciated

Sorry for the huge delay in replying.
That seems like a little too much for me. As mentioned I'd like to avoid any microprocessors.
Friend of mine suggested a 555 timer, so I guess that's what I'm going to look into.
But thanks for the answer