Simple machine inventions are quite gratifying to come up with. Simple is so much better than complicated, at least in my opinion. I’ve come up with a few simple ones, my paper burster, hydrothermal stabilizer, quick-shot foam dispensing nozzle, and even my asparagus harvester could be considered simple machines.
There is however, a new invention idea that needs to be invented. A cat toy that will keep my cats occupied for a few hours a day so they stop pestering me to play with them. I’ve made a bunch of different things for the cats to play with, but nothing high tech.
One of my better cat toys consisted of a large piece of brown wrapping paper about 2 feet square. I taped a long piece of rubber band to the center of the paper with duct tape, and attached the other end of the rubber band to a small plastic ball. Then I place the paper with the ball side down on the floor.
The cats loved it. They would pounce on the lump under the paper and push it and pull it and finally they would end up tearing the paper and capturing the ball. But as with all of the other toys they get used to it and get bored.
It seems to me that a cat toy has to be interactive with the cat in order to keep it interested. With all the available electronics that should not be too difficult. A microcontroller, a couple of sensors, maybe a motor or two or a solenoid and a little creativity and the cats will have there interactivity.
I’ve written more about possible ways of using simple machine inventions for cat toys in this article: New Invention Idea – Toys for Cats. I go into more detail about my ideas for these simple machine inventions for use as interactive toys for cats.
Think small things that move quickly and try to hide. At least that’s what my cats like the best. Little hunters they are.
So please, if you can come up with a great interactive toy for cats please let me know when they go on sale… I’ll be the first one to buy one. Unless of course I come up with something first.
