Cat Audio Pressure Plate W/ Makey Makey

Cats can be annoying but that doesn't make them any less lovable.They are our living, snuggling, memes.

Let's start with the problem and take a look at the solution. Watch the video below.

Things you will need for this project:

• Cardboard - A medium or large cardboard box
• Foam board - You can also use additional cardboard for this
• Glue Stick
• Rubber bands - optional
• Aluminum Foil
• Tape - painters, duct, masking, packing... any of these are fine
• Cutting tool - I used a box cutter but strong scissors would work
• Makey Makey w/ alligator clip wires (provided with the device)
• A computer (or Makey Makey compatible device
• A door in your house
• At least one cat (the needier the better)

Start by measuring and cutting your cardboard to a cat sized pressure plate. You will need two (2) sheets of the same size. I have four cats and they range from petite to full-blown chonk, so I made mine approximately 14"x16".

Using your glue stick, Glue a sheet of aluminum foil to one side of each sheet of cardboard. Be sure it overlaps one edge (see the photo) so you can later attach your alligator clips to both panels.

Cut you foam (or strips of cardboard) at lengths that will allow you to frame one sheet of your cardboard around the aluminum foil. Using your glue stick, glue down the strips. You only need to do this for one sheet.

With the foil sides facing each other, place your two sheets together. The foil sheets should be very close, but NOT touch each other. Using tape or rubber bands, attach the sheets together. You might want to base this decision on whether your cat likes to EAT tape or rubber bands.

Connect one wire to the top sheet of your pressure plate, making sure it clips to the aluminum. Connect the other wire to the bottom sheet, again making sure it is clipped to the aluminum. The two metal ends of the wires SHOULD NOT touch each other. You can space them out if needed.

Open a new "Create" project in Scratch (https://scratch.mit.edu) and code your pressure plate. You can copy my code from the photo above or make it your own! I used the text-to-speech plug-in which can be added by clicking in the bottom left corner of a scratch 3.0 project.

You can also find my code here and remix it! https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/399560990

Run the program below to see what it does. Press (hold) and release the space bar.

Get your cat to actual do what you want! Good luck with that!