Project Summary
This project was inspired by other automated laser toys I had seen before on Amazon, and I decided to build one myself for the entertainment of my cats (and also myself).
Hardware Used
The design
The enclosure was designed using FreeCAD and 3D printed with my Ender 3 Pro. It's a simple cylindrical design with a flared base for stability and a detachable top for easy access to the internals. The top is held in place using a small peg, and I hot glued it in place to prevent it from falling out.
The prototype
The design it pretty straightforward. There laser diode is mounted on the pan-tilt kit, and when the button is pressed, the pan-tilt kit will move around in the software defined patterns. The potentiometer is used to dim the laser diode to a comfortable level so as to limit the risk of eye damage.
The software
The code for this project can be viewed here on GitHub