A solar powered (rechargeable) virtual dog with built-in motion detector and user selectable growling sounds. One should be able to place several of them in strategic places in one’s garden to scare off potential intruders at night. Alternatively, one could use devices such as these to welcome people at your front door, or to warn others about obstacles in certain locations.
An upscale model should allow one to download your own mini MP3 soundtracks to the device, similar to the ring tones on cell phones.
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<http://www.x10.com/products/x10_dk9000.htm>
ROBO-DOG! an X-10 compatible barking friend.
This was a good idea....someone has already made it into a commercial product, other than the MP3 concept.
Thanks, Pilgrim, I was not aware of the Robo-Dog device. The only problem as I can see is that the Robo-Dog requires some physical connection for power, connection to an alarm system or doorbell, and to the motion detector.
What I really want to see is a low cost standalone device that is independent of any alarm system. In a sense it would be like the solar lights one could place anywhere in your garden. An advanced version could have some WI-FI capabilities built in if one would like to incorporate it into an existing (intelligent) alarm system, and also to allow one to download sounds for particular applications.
By having such a standalone version one could use it for many applications that the Robo-Dog is not able to perform, for instance to issue a warning when someone gets close to a pond or a pool (especially when its dark), or in gardens where there is an unexpected step (useful for us old-timers), or just as a scarecrow for keeping your real dog out of a section of your garden (a low growl will do the trick here).
Limbak,
Got it! You're right, the RoboDog example does plug into a power outlet, and is triggered via X-10 power line technology by a different device (motion detector), via the X-10 alarm system controller. A lot of parts.
Your application examples are ones where the above product would not work well. I have seen solar powered walkway lights, so the technology is there for the power end. Motion detector technology is well developed. And now I see better why you want personalized warnings/ barking/ sirens.
You have my vote.
I'm going to see if I can't design one since we have a lot of deer coming in our yard eating plants.