I’ve recently set up a smart cat door using Home Assistant, and I wanted to share my experience and ask for feedback. The goal was to create an automation that detects when my cats enter or exit the house and updates their location accordingly. Here’s how I approached it:
First, I installed an RFID scanner at the cat door to detect when my cats (each equipped with an RFID tag) are near. I also added a contact sensor to the door to monitor its state. The idea was to trigger a template sensor that updates their location based on the RFID scan and door movement.
The initial setup worked in the Developer Tools, but the sensor remained ‘unknown’ until the RFID tag was scanned. I realized that the sensor wasn’t defaulting to ‘Inside’ when no RFID tag was detected. To fix this, I adjusted the logic to check the door’s state in conjunction with the RFID scan. If the door opens and an RFID tag is detected, it sets the location to ‘Outside’. If the door closes without an RFID scan, it defaults to ‘Inside’.
While this works, I’m curious if there’s a more efficient way to handle the state changes or if I should consider adding additional sensors for better accuracy. I’m also thinking about expanding this setup to include multiple cats and possibly integrating it with other automations, like adjusting the thermostat based on their presence.
Has anyone else tackled a similar project? I’d love to hear about your experiences, challenges, and solutions!