Robotic mouse = more kitty fun

Product Design & Development (April 21) -- An estimated 58 percent of domestic cats are overweight. A large contributing factor is that their owners simply don’t have the recommended 20 minutes per day to commit to playing with them. Dave Cohen, a U. of I. doctoral student in electrical and computer engineering, is leading a group that is working on a potential solution to the problem. The group has built the initial prototype of a robotic pet that can sense the movements of a cat and react the way a real mouse would. The result could be endless amounts of playtime for the cat. Also: ECNMag (Rockaway, N.J., April 22).