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About This Instructable

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landmanr
(https://cdn instructables com/FXS/9NXA/GJ289X3F/FX
(/member/landmanr/)
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More by landmanr:

(/id/Cast-an-
entangled-
rings-ice- (/id/RFID-cat- (/id/RFID-
sculpture/) door/) pet-feeder/)

(https://cdn instructables com/F1B/21EC/GJ27ZD (https://cdn instructables com/FJT/61YH/GJ2833T

(https://cdn instructables com/FDV/H2SC/GJ27(https://cdn instructables c(https://cdn instructables c

This is a cat door/flap that can only be opened by the animal that wears the
appropriate RFID tag. Arduino controls the process. It features a custom made
antenna large enough to function as a gate, which makes it easy for the animal
to activate and quite reliable. Some methods and techniques are borrowed from
my previous project, the RFID cat feeder
(https://www.instructables.com/id/RFID-pet-feeder/). Whereas the feeder
controls access to a food bowl, the door controls access to an entire room. The
latest code can also distinguish between tags to allow the system to behave
differently for different individuals.
 RFID door (entering) (http://vimeo.com/18942527) from champenoise
(http://vimeo.com/user698458) on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com).

How it works:
1. In the beginning the door is locked, cat is outside
2. Cat walks up to the gate, RF tag gets read within about 4 inches
3. Door unlocks and a light comes on.
4. Timer ensures that door stays unlocked long enough to give cat a chance to
respond
5. Cat pushes open the flap and enters
6. Flap falls back, activates Hall effect sensor, and the door locks
7. Going from the inside out, an infrared proximity sensor detects the presence
of an animal if within about 10 inches and unlocks the door.

Most animals will quickly learn to push the flap in response to the click (lock) and
the light. Make sure that the edges of the door and the doorway are padded with
soft material for when the tail gets caught! A few painful experiences may be
enough to make the cat never want to go in there again.

The electronics are shown without enclosure, but it is advised to put an

enclosure around the electronic parts once you're done. It is not further
discussed in this Instructable however.

Step 1: Parts List

(https://cdn instructables com/F4Z/9I5P/GJ27ZDA0/F4Z9I5PGJ27ZDA0 MEDIUM jpg)

(https://cdn instructables com/F9(https://cdn instructables com/F (https://cdn instructables com/FHE/

 - Arduino Duemilanove
- 5V RF reader module (Seeed Studio 125Khz UART
(http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/125khz-rfid-module-uart-p-171.html?
cPath=144_153) or equivalent. Most readers come with a small antenna. To use
the custom made antenna discussed here, you need a reader that allows
connecting an external antenna)
- RF tag (I used these 35mm disc shaped ones
(http://www.trossenrobotics.com/store/p/3615-35mm-White-Disk-w-hole.aspx))
- About 86 feet of 24 gauge magnet wire (longer than the piece shown in the
photograph)
- Sharp GP2D1 (http://www.trossenrobotics.com/sharp-ir-distance-sensor-
gp2d12.aspx)2 infrared proximity sensor
- Two 12V electronic cabinet locks (Nordson electronic
(http://chinanordson.en.alibaba.com/product/379049386-
210144365/Cabinet_Lock_Small_Electric_Bolt_Lock.html)). Solenoids, basically.
- One 12V DC power supply
- Two TIP120 Darlington transistors
- One Hall-effect sensor (http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9312)
- One or more magnets to activate Hall-effect sensor over a range of about 2cm
- One 100 Ohm resistor
- Four 2 KOhm resistors
- Two pushbuttons
- One LED
- One hinge (one that moves easily but without much lateral movement, for
precision)
- One 6" x 9" piece of 1/8" thick Plexiglas and perhaps another piece of about 6"
x 3" to mount the locks
- Hookup wire, including about 27" extra thin (26 AWG or thinner)
- Nuts, bolts and serrated washers
- Rubber isolation strip or other soft material for padding the edges of the door
and door post

The system comprises several 'modules' (solenoids, RF reader, and so on). One
of the pictures here shows the basic plan with the modules connected to the
Arduino (the electronics). In the next steps the mechanical parts and each of the
modules will be discussed in detail.

Step 2: Make the Door

(https://cdn instructables com/FBO/UVLZ/GJ7MQAVY/FBOUVLZGJ7MQAVY MEDIUM jpg)

The door is a Plexiglas flap hanging on a hinge. At the bottom, the doorpost will
have two solenoids, one on each side of the flap, to block unauthorized animals
from getting in. Pretty straightforward. Just a few things to keep in mind:
 Make sure that in the resting state, the flap is centered in between the two
solenoids. In the picture that is in the red area around the dotted line down the
middle. To achieve this it helps to have no heavy things hanging on one side,
and to use a hinge with little friction.

It helps to have a hinge without much lateral movement (sideways movement

within the plane of the wall). This will help to make the hall-effect sensor (a
magnet-actuated switch) work. I will discuss this more in detail in step ...

The door needs to be rigid but light-weight so that it is easy to push it open and
doesn't hurt when a tail gets caught. Make the corners smooth and add padding
on the edges and the door post to minimize tail tribulations.

Step 3: Make an Antenna

(https://cdn instructables com/FBY/QSWK/GJ7MQFVZ/F

The antenna is nothing more than a coil of magnet wire connected to the RF
reader. Most RF readers come with an antenna, but some allow the use of an
external antenna. For this project I made a square antenna of 10 x 10 inches by
winding 24 gauge magnet wire 24 turns around a sawed off bucket to make it
sturdy. The distance between turns has to be as small as possible. I mounted
the thing on the plywood with two pieces of wood as spacers to make it stand off
from the wall a bit so the cat could activate it farther from the wall. The 35mm
disc tags (http://www.trossenrobotics.com/store/p/3615-35mm-White-Disk-w-
hole.aspx) that I use are read up to 4 inches of the plane of the coil. The RF
reader and antenna are powered with the 5v from the Arduino. Even though the
Arduino works fine with just the USB cable, the RF reader works better when the
Arduino is plugged into the wall with the 9v power adapter
(http://www.makershed.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MKSF3).

More info about coil antennas:

Microchip Inc. Antenna circuit design for RFID applications (pdf)
(http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/AppNotes/00710c.pdf)

Step 4: Hook-up the RF Reader

(https://cdn instructables com/F75/NPHD/GJ7MQBBF/F75NPHDGJ7MQBBF MEDIUM jpg)

 This project consists of several 'modules' that you need to hook up to the
Arduino and test in advance. First hook-up the RF reader. You can use the 5v
output of the Arduino to power it, and a digital port (I used 2) to get the signal.
The RDM630 that I used also has pins for a led that I don't use. It also has an
RX pin to send info back to the RF reader, but I don't use that either. Hook-up
your antenna, get a tag and use the serial monitor of the Arduino to see if it's
detected. Now you can also start working on improving the antenna by trying
adding or removing turns, trying different shapes et cetera. Power the Adruino
with the 9v power supply, not just USB because at least in my case that didn't
work. You can download the file named 'rfid3.pde'
(http://www.writtensound.com/arduino/cat_door.htm) to test. The code requires
NewSoftSerial.h which can be obtained here
(http://arduiniana.org/libraries/newsoftserial/)

Step 5: Add Solenoids

(/contest/micro/)
RFID Cat Door by landmanr (/member/landmanr/) in arduino (/technology/arduino/)

Download h (/id/RFID-cat-door/) 8 Steps .  Collection I Made it!  Favorite  Share 

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(https://cdn instructables com/FUX/0VOK/GJ7MQDHR/FUX0VOKGJ7MQ

Hook-up the solenoids up to the Arduino as in the schematic: connect the

TIP120s to digital ports 5 and 6 with 2k resistors in between. One pin goes to
ground, the other goes to the solenoid, with a diode across it (make sure you get
the polarity right), and to the 12v supply in the end. The other wire of the power
supply is ground. Connect that to the other grounds. Just connect all grounds of
all components including the Arduino together. Over here
(http://www.writtensound.com/arduino/cat_door.htm) you can download code to
specifically test the two solenoids.

Step 6: Add Hall Effect Sensor

(https://cdn instructables com/FD6/CJ95/GJ7MQDFL/FD6CJ95GJ7MQDFL MEDIUM jpg)

 (https://cdn instructables com/FG4/EJ7U/GJ7MQAVZ/FG4EJ7UGJ7MQAVZ MEDIUM jpg)

The Hall effect sensor is for detecting whether the door is in the center, i.e.
within the range that closing the locks makes sense. There are other solutions
possible, such as mechanical/optical rotary encoders, contact sensors, beam
break sensors. The main reasons for choosing a Hall effect sensor were that it
does not add friction, it can be covered entirely, and I also was just curious how
they work.

I did not want to put magnets on the door because that would make it heavier,
so instead I put the switch on the door and the magnets in the door post. I had to
use thin, very flexible wire otherwise the rigidity of it would push the flap off
center. The sensor and wire is simply taped to the Plexiglas. I have two little
magnets in the door post. At the closest point the sensor and magnets are 5mm
apart. The range is about 3cm.

Connect the signal pin of the Hall sensor to pin 4 and to through a 100 ohm
resistor to 5v. Connect ground pin to the other grounds and the vcc pin to 5v.
Add an LED to digital pin 7 with the appropriate resistor (used a green one with
a 220 ohm resistor).

Download Hall_effect.pde (http://www.writtensound.com/arduino/cat_door.htm)

to test this part of the system.

Step 7: Add Proximity Sensor

(https://cdn instructables com/FOK/098B/GJ7MQDFN/FOK098BGJ7MQDFN MEDIUM jpg)

For this system I only cared about which cat enters, and any creature may exit.
Thus, I only needed RFID on one side. The door should open to any animal that
approaches from the other side. An IR proximity sensor works well.

Connect the out-pin of a Sharp GP2D12 to Analog port 0, the ground pin to the
other grounds and the vcc pin to 5v.

Download IR_test_analog.pde
(http://www.writtensound.com/arduino/cat_door.htm) to test this part of the
system

Step 8: Add Two Buttons and Load Final Code

 (https://cdn instructables com/FYE/4OCU/GJ7MQDFK/FYE4OCUGJ7MQDFK MEDIUM jpg)

Finally you can add buttons to open the locks manually (see schematic). .

In the final code downloadable here

(http://www.writtensound.com/arduino/cat_door.htm), I stored the value of two
tags worn by the our animals, one with and one without access. When the
animal without access tries to get in, the door is locked immediately.

byte goodcode[6] = {0x1C, 0, 0xFC, 0xB2, 0x90};

byte badcode[6] = {0x16, 0, 0x78, 0xE7, 0xFE};

You have to find the code of the tags you are using and put those values into the
arrays 'goodcode' and 'badcode'. The values are hexadecimal which need '0x' in
front of it in this programming language.

If you don't want to tag the other cat, shortening the open time (smaller value for
variable 'open_time') can help, although that puts the burden on the cat with
access to respond faster.

It is a good idea to put an enclosure around the electronics, but that will not be
discussed in this instructable.

On a final note, if your antenna has a large range extending into the secured
area, you may need to calibrate the positioning of the antenna and the proximity
sensor a bit to make sure the RFreader is not activated from the inside. If the cat
is inside and wants to go out, the proximity sensor has to detect the cat first.
Once that happens, it is okay because in that part of the program, the RF reader
is not checked.

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Comments

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Please be positive and constructive. w I Made it!  Add Images Post Comment

Kneedeep248 (/member/Kneedeep248/) 2017-08-31 Reply

Hi,
I came across this site in my search ....

I see the last comment of 2017-05-01 and I wonder if there has been any other
updates that some may have done since then?

I know nothing of the tech, but I would love to have a pet door that works with
my pet microchip.... I get the feeling more may be need than what is here with
this project.... a better microchip reader??? Just hoping...

Thanks,

badweasel (/member/badweasel/) . Kneedeep248 (/member/Kneedeep248/)

2017-08-31 Reply
It's not going to work with your pet's microchip. There
are several reasons why not. But basically, the placement under the skin
and orientation of that chip vs the orientation of the reader means your pet
would have to be trained to rub up against the reader in a very specific
way. If you could train your dog to do that you wouldn't need an rfid
reader. You could just train them to use the toilet or to use a level or
button to open the door. So forget about the microchip they already have.
It won't work. In fact with my dog door the rfid tag has to hang down from
her neck in a specific orientation or it won't work. RFID sensors read like
this | | not like this – |, where the two lines represent the orientation of the
tag and the reader coil. Off angle like this / | won't work very well either.
This is why when you get to work you have to lay your security card flat
against the reader. When you have coil alignment the read distance will
be at max it can be. Turn it off axis slightly and the read distance
decreases exponentially based on how off axis it is.

badweasel (/member/badweasel/) 2016-04-11 Reply

I'm trying to build this project except that I already have an electronic dog door
mechanism. The door I have uses an ultrasonic collar to trigger the door and it's
super finicky, the dog collar is large for a small dog, and the batteries are
proprietary and ultra expensive. So my goal is to hack the door I already have
to use RFID instead of ultrasonic.

The exiting through the door part is easy. I'm using a micro PIR sensor for that
and it works great. The coming back in will need the RFID and the reader and
antenna I have is very short range. I belive it's the same one used in this
project. I have to place the tag right on the antenna. Although to be fair I have
been powering it over USB. I tried to build my own antenna using the same
sized wire and method shown here (10x10 inch square at 24 winds) but with
that one it doesn't read anything at all. I also don't have equiment to measure
inductance (that I know of).

I've looked at the microchip pdf but it's over my head. I wish I could just buy a
large antenna that I could use that would read the dog tag at the distance I
need.

Kneedeep248 (/member/Kneedeep248/) . badweasel (/member/badweasel/)

2017-08-31 Reply
Hi,

I came across this site and your comment.... Sounds like I am in the same
boat as you.... an pet door with ultrasonic collar that dose not work well for
my dog. I have an active dog and the collar moves around, therefore the
door sensor dose not pick it up :-( After many emails with the company,
they offer nothing to help me with their door :-( So, I too am hoping to do a
DYI with better sensors. I see your post is over a year old and I am
wondering if you were able to to find better sensors to use with this
door??? If so, would you be willing to share what you did?
Thanks

badweasel (/member/badweasel/) . Kneedeep248 (/member/Kneedeep248/)

2017-08-31 Reply
I have the HIGH TECH Power Pet electronic door. I am
willing to share my work. I just did a reworking of the door a couple of
weeks ago. So I can include those fixes. My new system has an LED that
shows the status of where the dog is (green for outside, blue for inside).
And the new sensor the dog wears is very cheap ($1) requires no
batteries, and is smaller than a normal dog tag. It's a dog tag RFID.

I'm not sure it belongs here on instructable but maybe on my own blog. It'll
take me a little while to write it up though.

beaglesparks (/member/beaglesparks/) 2017-05-01 Reply

Are you using the cat's embedded RFID or an additional tag? How close does
the cat have to be to be sensed?
 badweasel (/member/badweasel/) . beaglesparks (/member/beaglesparks/) Reply

2017-08-19
The embedded tag probably won't work. For one the 3d
alignment of the tag to the antenna is significant. For another it might not
be the same frequency. An example of the alignment is imagine you have
a loop antenna that is like a circle in front of you and you turn your tag so
that it's 90 degrees off from that alignment and pass it thru the loop - it
might not read at all. But turn it so that it's flat against that circle and it will
read much better and farther away. The tag in your cat isn't going to
match that alignment.

ThomasW157 (/member/ThomasW157/) 2016-06-16 Reply

Same problem as everyone else, although the largest antenna I have tried so
far is only 3" x 4". Always the same result with all of my antennas so far:
approximately 1" read distance using a keyfob. They all work, but I am not
seeing ANY increase in read distance as the antennas get bigger. I have tried
several different brands of 125KHz readers. I have also tried two different
brands of 13.56 MHz readers but the read distance only improves to 1.5 inches.
Completely stumped.

badweasel (/member/badweasel/) . ThomasW157 (/member/ThomasW157/)

2017-08-19 Reply
My antenna goes around the entire tunnel the dog
travels through to go in and out. When the dog passes thru it reads the
tag, but only if the tag is aligned with the antenna. So the rfid tag had to
be fixed to her collar so that when hanging down naturally it faces forward.
When I properly tuned the antenna and removed noise in my system I got
about 9-12 inches (not cm) from the center axis. In other words it would
read the tag when the dog was entering the tunnel, before she was in the
middle of the antenna. Which is where I needed it to work. Noise was a
problem when I used a power supply instead of a battery. I fixed this by
grounding my system to the actual ground. Recently I've been having
problems with my system again. I think antennas are tricky and fragile.

MichaelL42 (/member/MichaelL42/) 2015-06-21 Reply

Hi! I'm trying to build the cat flap. I have almost everything finished, except for
one step: I tried to make an equivalent antenna, as described, by wrapping 30
gauge magnetic wire around a 26x17 cm PVC box (I need 26.5 loops). I even
bought an LC meter, to make sure the inductance is the same. The antenna
that came with the RFID module is 477uH, and the one I made around 472uH
(It seems somewhat dependent on where and how exactly the exit wires go),
but I get nice strings from the original antenna, and nothing from the one I
made. I checked the resistance, and it is almost the same - 6 ohm (original) vs
8 ohm (mine).

What could the problem be??? I can't figure it out.

MichaelL42 (/member/MichaelL42/) . MichaelL42 (/member/MichaelL42/) Reply

2015-06-27
I built another antenna, this time using 21AWG. Same result.
However, now I noticed that when I bring the tag very close to the loops -
pretty much rubbing the wires, then it is read with both antennas. Now I
need to convince the cat to rub her tag on the wire... maybe catnip spray?

badweasel (/member/badweasel/) . MichaelL42 (/member/MichaelL42/) Reply

2016-04-11
Did you ever figure it out? I'm having the same issue where I
need a larger antenna, except that I'm not getting anything at all with
mine.

MichaelL42 (/member/MichaelL42/) . badweasel (/member/badweasel/) Reply

2016-04-11
No, I didn't. My next step was to try other RFID readers, but I
haven't done that yet.

badweasel (/member/badweasel/) . MichaelL42 (/member/MichaelL42/) Reply

2017-08-19
I actually did get mine working. My RIFD reader can report back
with the .. um.. frequency?.. of the antenna. You send a MOF (measure
operating frequency?) command to it and it reports back. So used that to
get my antenna sort of close (not really very close) just by guessing on the
# of winds. Then I bought a variety pack of capacitors and my RFID
reader also has a place to insert adjustment capacitors to 'tune' the
antenna. So with that I was able to get it fairly close to 125. It worked for a
while. It's not been working well lately. So I checked and the tape I used to
hold the winds tight had broken down. I've fixed that but at the moment I'm
 not getting any readings when the tag is near.
I also had a lot of problems with noise. The power supply I'm using is
noisy and it kept it from reading tags. My fix was to ground the circuit to
actual ground.. like metal in the house frame.
My addition now is that I have a micro PIR sensor on the inside of the
door, and one inside the tunnel (outside the door). I'm using the timing
and cadence of those triggers to determine if the dog actually goes out the
door. If so then I watch the outside one for a few minutes to let her in even
without the rfid tag. However if she stayed out too long, or triggered the
outside PIR without coming back in, then it would revert back to requiring
RFID to enter.

bramofon (/member/bramofon/) 2017-07-29 Reply

I was pretty excited to see this project. I'm hoping to build something like it
because, to shorten a long story, I have 2 cats and I really need them to only go
in their own boxes. The box I want to lock is basically inside a cabinet and I'm
only concerned about it preventing entry from one direction. In fact when a cat
is inside, I would rather leave it so they can always get out, regardless. One of
my big concerns right now is the servo. I bought a couple to try them out and
unfortunately they make a pretty loud noise when they engage. It made me
jump so I know there's no way my cat will go near it when he hears it. Anybody
heard of any similar projects that may have some support?

RafaelN31 (/member/RafaelN31/) 2016-04-19 Reply

Hello, you said that the code requires newsoftserial code, how can i get it to
work?

Thanks!!

DuckyThought3 (/member/DuckyThought3/) . RafaelN31 (/member/RafaelN31/)

2017-03-27 Reply
Did you get this to work??

adillbeck (/member/adillbeck/) 2017-02-17 Reply

how do you know if you've got the windings right? Meaning, why 24, and not
30?

JakeW4 (/member/JakeW4/) 2015-01-12 Reply

Do you have to use the Arduino Duemilanove or can you use others such as
Arduino Uno?

But great project!!

LeoKalinski (/member/LeoKalinski/) . JakeW4 (/member/JakeW4/) Reply

2017-01-25
did you get any response on this matter? I am looking at this
project but can only get hold of Uno

yougotbrad (/member/yougotbrad/) 2016-10-26 Reply

Great project. I case anyone hasn't seen this, a manufacturer has made a
commercial version, "SureFlap Microchip Cat Door." On Amazon at SureFlap
Microchip Cat Door- White
(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003EGIM3O/ref=pd_bxgy_199_3?
ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=QD08RFMJYA9VEEQ0MNYX)

They solved the issue of getting the antenna nearer the implant location by
extending it out from the flap and extending the flap the other way to create a 3-
4" tunnel, with the loop at the extreme outside end I assume. They also offer a
RFID collar tag, in case your pet's tag won't read or doesn't have one.

Maybe someone can satisfy my curiosity about the Amazon image: How did
they install it in a double pane thermal patio door? I assume once they broke
the seal the window would get condensation inside.

ledrac (/member/ledrac/) 2016-09-16 Reply

So does this thing work? I see many comments stating the antenna does not
work. I would like to make this but I don't want to waste my time if it doesn't
work. Please let me know if the antenna issue has been resolved.

RafaelN31 (/member/RafaelN31/) 2016-05-08 Reply

It cannot be uploaded onto the arduino...all directories are correct and still can't
identify NewSoftSerial.h please help...
 TomStoffen (/member/TomStoffen/) . RafaelN31 (/member/RafaelN31/) Reply

2016-05-21
Did you install it as a library? See here for details if not:
https://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/Libraries#toc4

daleruisky (/member/daleruisky/) 2016-04-14 Reply

Hi Landmanr, I'm attempting to put together a RFID setup to keep my dog away
from the trash can. I'm attempting to build a larger antenna. I've used the
datasheet you provided as well as a multilayer air coil antenna calculator found
online to attempt to produce a 8.5 in antenna and the best I could do is have the
tags read when touching the coil much like one of the comments below.
I attempted to replicate your antenna to the T and cannot get it to work. I'm
leaning towards inductance as the factor that is wrong with my antenna since I
must plug this into the equation in order to get the proper amount of turns per
layer. The data sheet for the RFID reader does not list required inductance for
the coil so I tried to reverse engineer your antenna using a inductance
calculator and it seems that your antenna is somewhere around 300 UH. Could
you verify this for me? Thanks!

The_ccm (/member/The_ccm/) 2016-01-04 Reply

Hi,
Do you think it could work with another rfid protocol for example Mifare tags
running at 13.56MHZ? The reader could be a PN532 board, which is cheap, my
only concern is which would be the reader's range ? Also get a $3 arduino pro
or mini can reduce the global cost :)

sanityfalling (/member/sanityfalling/) . The_ccm (/member/The_ccm/) Reply

2016-01-20
Range on the PN532 is a few inches, almost touching basically.
It's range is already maximized. Modifying the antenna changes the
inductance of it. Even if you wanted to supply more power to it, the board
doesn't support it.

13.56 MHz is meant for close range.

I would probably stick to using a EM4100
I guess you could also use a active tag(powered) but I don't think the cat
would appreciate a project enclosure on it's collar..

cat-trapper (/member/cat-trapper/) 2015-05-21 Reply

Some people have suggested putting the antenna in a tunnel in front of the
door. I am thinking of using this design to make a trap for cats which have not
been tagged, so that is an attractive option for me. If I do that, is it likely to be
sensitive enough to detect implanted microchips?

NickholasH (/member/NickholasH/) 2014-12-27 Reply

First and foremost, this cat flap is huge. For a cat you can get away with a
square hole 20 cm on a side (though I'll admit that I prefer 25). Second, if
getting tails caught is a problem for you I recommend that you make a gap
between the door and the wall about 1.5 or 2 cm wide that can pass a tail, but
not a limb (there will of course not be a gap on the lock). Then go get some
rubber and put and nice gasket around the flap to keep in the heat.

NickholasH (/member/NickholasH/) . NickholasH (/member/NickholasH/) Reply

2014-12-27
Typo:

I said "a tail, but not a limb" when I meant to say "a tail, but not an
animal."

MirasD (/member/MirasD/) 2014-11-27 Reply

Dear creator!
My name is Miras, and I plan to implement the same schem using arduino+
rdm6300. Could you contact with me by email miras.dolayev@gmail.com. I've
got some questions about antenna calculation.
Will wait for you friend!

mihk70 (/member/mihk70/) 2014-11-09 Reply

Good instructable, nice job. Most US pet pittag are usually 125 and EU 134.2
although there are some newer ones out there with oddball frequencies these
days. On a good day with one of the handheld scanners the vets use I've
managed to pull a number off an animal at about 6cm but most days its 2-3cm
through skin if I can find it at all. Try moving you coil into a hood over the top of
the flap rather than round the flap or even double up on your coils with them
90deg to the flap so that your cat walks into the field first

Akin Yildiz (/member/Akin+Yildiz/) 2014-09-03 Reply

this is soo cool..!

aka_bigred (/member/aka_bigred/) 2011-01-24 Reply

Awesome! - Anyone know how to read the standard implanted pet RFID tags? It
would be even better to do this and not need an external RFID tag if your cat
was already chipped with an internal implanted RFID tag.

landmanr (/member/landmanr/) . aka_bigred (/member/aka_bigred/) Reply

2011-01-24
Implanted pet tags are usually tuned to 134.2 KHz or 125 KHz
(Wikipedia), so it is the right frequency. The implanted tags are really
small though, which could make the read range very small.

landmanr (/member/landmanr/) . landmanr (/member/landmanr/) Reply

2011-05-16
I have tried a 'Home Again Pet-Tracking Microchip' but I could
not get it to work.

lunakid (/member/lunakid/) . landmanr (/member/landmanr/) 2013-12-11 Reply

:-(

For those sharing the frustration about the implanted tags:

Knowing the very real reading distance problem (seeing vets pressing
their handheld devices to the skin), a good explanation for the failure of
the door setup is still lacking. Can anyone (unfortunately only an
electromagnetic fields expert...) tell what factors negate these important
things below, making a reading still impossible?

A door

a) has a waaay bigger (stronger) antenna than a handheld reader, and

b) (this feels even more important) the cat PASSES THROUGH the
antenna, theoretically decreasing the tag distance (and so the required
reading distance) to ZERO! :-o

So, considering these important benefits, what is the real reason for being
unable to read those tiny tags? (The physical model behind the equations
is invalid at zero-distance? Or certain effects, losses inside the antenna
are just ignored at the usual non-zero-distance cases? Or tag position
offset from the antenna axis weakens coupling that much?)

Just curious (= still not given up hope... :) ).

Thanks a lot!

lunakid (/member/lunakid/) . lunakid (/member/lunakid/) 2013-12-11 Reply

Wait, wait! :) Just realized, that in this setup, the cat actually cannot pass
through the antenna to open the door, because the closed door stops it
too far from "Plane Zero"...

A tunnel-shaped configuration would be required to test the zero-distance

case.

mermaldad (/member/mermaldad/) . aka_bigred (/member/aka_bigred/) Reply

2013-11-02
There are several issues with the implanted chips. Frequency
can be one, although from my reading it appears to be an overrated issue,
in that the 134.2 kHz and 125 kHz chips can often be read by the same
reader. Another issue is the number of digits being read. I know that one
type of pet chip uses 15 digit tags, while many of the readers available to
hobbyists only read 10 or 12 digits. A third issue is that some brands of
pet chips use encryption.
 legless (/member/legless/) . aka_bigred (/member/aka_bigred/) 2011-06-28 Reply

Those implanted chips are really tiny. When the vet reads the chip with a
purpose made handheld reader, it has to virtually be pressed up against
the cat's skin/fur. The signal created when excited by the reader just
wouldn't be strong enough to be useful.

Philips1234 (/member/Philips1234/) 2013-10-31 Reply

(below) In case anyone else has this issue, Arduino 1.0 and later doesn't need
'Newsoftserial' added to the library. Instead, insert the code given into Arduino
and change 'Newsoftserial' to 'Softwareserial' in the code itself. It is placed in
the code twice.

Philips1234 (/member/Philips1234/) 2013-10-30 Reply

What needs to change on the RFID code? Arduino doesn't seem to like it.. :(

hsadek (/member/hsadek/) 2013-09-19 Reply

good

itncampos (/member/itncampos/) 2013-03-29 Reply

First, congratulations for your project.

Secondly, the questions:
1. You said in material that used 4 x 2kohms resistor, I just saw 2 in the
schematic, where are the other 2?
2. I didn't understand why the diode in the solenoid part, can you clarify to me?
3. If I use a 6V solenoid, do I have to use a different resistor?
Again great job and when my material arrive from china to brazil I will try to
make a bigger wall dog door, if I succeed, maybe I post here my modifications
with the right citations to your project.
Thanks in advance

Dave Kruschke (/member/Dave+Kruschke/) 2012-12-21 Reply

Antenna resonance details are pretty important, more so than, say, the
thickness of the wire used for the coil. Please see
https://www.instructables.com/id/RFID-Reader-Detector-Easy-to-Build (RFID in
Instructables) and you will notice a RFID detector here with an LED that uses
both a coil AND a capacitor that matches 125 kHz. The LED on this detector
lights at the farthest distance from the RFID reader when the coil and capacitor
resonate at the frequency of 125 kHz. Roughly speaking, my handwound coil of
about 300 uH with about .005 uF of capacitors in parallel with the coil resulted
in the best lighting of the LED at a distance of about 4+ inches and mostly
meets the requirements of the formula; freq = 1000 divided by (2 times pi times
the square root of L times C) where freq in in kHz, C is in uF and L is in uH. I
believe that using a capacitor in parallel with the antenna coil is pretty common
practice. The wound coil is "fine tuned" by capacitors hooked up in parallel with
the coil...

azzytee (/member/azzytee/) 2011-09-24 Reply

Thanks for this, I've been using this instructable to build a similar rfid dog door.
One of my final steps is building a bigger antenna, but I can't get it to read
anything. Is there a specific number of turns or size of antenna that has to be
built?

landmanr (/member/landmanr/) . azzytee (/member/azzytee/) 2011-09-25 Reply

Yes there are a number of factors that all together determine how well the
antenna works. Your antenna is tailored to the frequency you want to use
and the number of turns depends mainly on the antenna diameter (more
turns required as the diameter gets smaller) and on the thickness of the
wire. You can find detailed information here:
http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/AppNotes/00710c.pdf
10x10 inches was the biggest I could get with this RF reader. I varied the
number of turns as a way to 'tune' it, trying it out with a tag each time.

Dave Kruschke (/member/Dave+Kruschke/) . landmanr (/member/landmanr/)

2012-12-20 Reply
Please see https://www.instructables.com/id/RFID-
Reader-Detector-Easy-to-Build and you will notice a RFID detector here
with an LED that uses both a coil AND a capacitor that matches 125 kHz.
The LED on this detector lights at the farthest distance from the RFID
reader when the coil and capacitor resonate at the frequency of 125 kHz.
Roughly speaking, my handwound coil of about 300 uH with about .005
uF of capacitors in parallel with the coil resulted in the best lighting of the
LED at a distance of about 4+ inches and mostly meets the requirements
of the formula; freq = 1000 divided by (2 times pi times the square root of
L times C) where freq in in kHz, C is in uF and L is in uH. I believe that
using a capacitor in parallel with the antenna coil is pretty common
practice. The wound coil is "fine tuned" by capacitors hooked up in parallel
with the coil...

azzytee (/member/azzytee/) . landmanr (/member/landmanr/) 2011-09-25 Reply

Thanks, I also found more details from your pet feeder project. I've made
a working antenna now but it's range is still pitiful. One more question,
does it have to be a perfect spiral or can the wire overlap itself?

landmanr (/member/landmanr/) . azzytee (/member/azzytee/) 2011-09-27 Reply

On my antenna there is overlap, it's not a perfect spiral.

I More Comments

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