When the feline decides its nap-time, eSleeper’s automated lighting control turns on a relaxing wave of colour inside an eMac, while greeting the cat with the iconic Macintosh start-up chime (keeping the legacy of the eMac). When the cat walks out, eSleeper turns off the lights and tweets to @eSleeper1, displaying various phrases along with how long the cat has occupied eSleeper.

How did eSleeper start life?

My cat loves sleeping. His old basket suffered from overuse and had to be discarded. Instead of buying him a replacement, I decided to bring cat baskets into the digital age and build eSleeper. He now loves eSleeper (and is sleeping even better).

How does it work?

An Ethernet Arduino is used to control eSleeper. Data is sent to the Arduino from an infra-red beam attached to the inside of the eMac. When the beam breaks, the Arduino turns on the RGB LED, talks to a sound shield to play the Macintosh startup chime and records how long the cat has been inside. When the beam is broken again, the Arduino turns off the LED and tweets a random phrase linked to the time spent inside the eSleeper.

Click here for the eSleeper Arduino code