WEEK19 Invention, Intellectual Property and Income

DISSEMINATION PLAN FOR FnessCat

FnessCat is a smart gym system designed to promote healthy exercise in indoor cats through reward-based interaction. The system includes a central snack dispenser that connects wirelessly to various activity modules (such as a paw button, treadmill wheel, and climbing tower) that dispense treats upon completed physical tasks. The idea was inspired by my own cats, who tend to be inactive during the day and more active at night. The goal was to provide physical stimulation without disturbing human rest.

In alignment with the open-source spirit of Fab Academy, I documented the entire development process of FnessCat on my Fab Academy student page. My goal was to share everything I did so that others could learn from or build upon the project. This includes:

All design files (2D and 3D)
Embedded programming and source code
Assembly instructions
Final testing results and functional demonstration

By openly sharing my work, I contribute to the global maker community, where collaboration and transparency are core values.

2. Licensing and Intellectual Property

To protect my work while still allowing others to reuse it non-commercially, I chose the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

According to this license:

You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit.
- NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
- ShareAlike — You must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.

This approach reflects the educational and collaborative purpose of the project while preserving the option to license it differently in the future if needed.

3. Public Engagement and Community Building

I created a final video presentation of FnessCat and shared it as part of my Fab Academy documentation. In terms of public dissemination, I decided to share my work on LinkedIn and Instagram as a personal milestone, highlighting the completion of such a prestigious and demanding program as Fab Academy.

I don’t currently intend to develop FnessCat as a commercial product, as it was mainly created for academic purposes. However, I remain open to possibilities. If the project unexpectedly gains traction online (maybe a post goes viral) then I would consider taking it further.

4. Future Development and Commercial Potential

If some pet owners or online communities express genuine interest, I could explore further development and real-world testing to determine whether cats respond to it as intended. In that case, the following plans could be pursued:

Short-Term Plans:

Improve sensor accuracy and reward timing
Add mobile app connectivity for remote monitoring
Test with multiple cats to evaluate usability and avoid overfeeding

Long-Term Opportunities:

Develop a starter kit with 1–2 exercise modules and a central dispenser
Collaborate with pet tech companies or integrate with smart home ecosystems
Launch a crowdfunding campaign (Kickstarter, Indiegogo) to fund development and test market interest
Partner with veterinarians and animal behavior experts for data collection and product refinement

CONCLUSIONS

FnessCat was a fun and meaningful project that allowed me to explore electronics, wireless communication, digital fabrication, and embedded systems in a playful and purposeful context. Although it started as an academic exercise, I see potential value in the idea. By documenting and licensing the work openly, I’ve ensured that it can serve as inspiration or a foundation for others who want to make life better for indoor cats, and maybe even take it further than I initially imagined.

FINAL PROJECT SKETCH SLIDE & VIDEO

I already prepared and uploaded last week 🙂

CHECK LIST:

Develop a plan for dissemination of your final project.
Prepare drafts of your summary slide (presentation.png, 1920x1080) and video clip (presentation.mp4, 1080p HTML5, < ~minute, < ~25 MB) and put them in your website's root directory

Learning outcomes:

Develop a plan to share your work
Formulate future opportunities and/or development for your final project

Have you answered these questions?

Created a dissemination plan for your final project
Outlined future possibilities and described how to make them probabilities
Uploaded a draft summary slide and video in the correct resolution and format
Checked your slide and video are accessible from your website