Ctrl-Z's Animal Allies Problem
Every year, about 150,000 dogs and cats are lost in Canada and are never reunited with their families.
This is a cause of significant grief to the pet owner’s family and adversely affects
the family’s health and social well-being.
Existing Solutions For Finding Lost Pets
Many existing solution use cell phone towers to locate the pet.
This requires a monthly subscription which can be very expensive.
Other solutions notify nearby people that the animal is lost
but require them to have an app on their mobile device.
Not everyone would have this app and would, therefore, limit the effectiveness of the solution.
Pip is a small GPS and activity tracker for dogs and cats.
Take Our Survey!
Ctrl-Z Lost Pet Survey
Introducing Ctrl-Z's Pinder Pet Finder!
- Our innovative solution is an inexpensive pet collar that will help
in reuniting lost pets with their families.
- Our collar connects with the owner’s mobile device using Bluetooth.
The range of the Bluetooth connection is approximately 190 feet.
If a pet walks away and exceeds this range, the connection is lost
and the Pinder Pet Finder collar will go into SOS mode.
- Passersby will be made aware of the lost pet by way of:
- A laser projecting a message onto the ground.
- A broadcasted audio message.
- An 8 x 8 scrolling LED matrix display indicating the contact information of the owner.
Prototype 1 of Ctrl-Z's Pinder Pet Finder
Design of the Housing on Autodesk 123D Design
Fritzing Design of the Pinder Pet Finder Electronics
A Video of Ctrl-Z's Pinder Pet Finder in action!
A Video of Ctrl-Z Presenting Their Research Skit
Meeting with Experts
Purchasing the Materials
Examples Of Current Solutions For Finding Lost Pets
Other ANIMAL ALLIES Problems Ctrl-Z Thought Of
- Animal Vision
- Factory Farming
- Bats
- Consumption
- Animal Testing
- Zoo/Enclosures
- Invasive Species
- Rats In Subway
- Roadkill
- Bird/Window Collisions
- Light Pollution
- Fishing Nets
- Airplane bird strikes
- Pet Depression
- Raccoons
Construction of the Pinder Pet Finder
Sharing the Knowledge
Cost of Materials to Build Pinder Pet Finder Prototype
Ctrl-Z FLL Team #5831 Pinder Pet Finder Financial Projection
Notes:
Assumptions:
- (a) Market in which to sell the Pinder Pet Finder is initally (first 7 years) limited to Canada,
- (b) There are 6.4 million dogs and 7.0 million cats in Canada
- (c) Dog owners are more prompt (and more motivated) in searching for lost pets,
- (d) Dog owners contact and visit shelters sooner than cat owners after a pet goes missing,
- (e) Price of competitive products include:
- (i) implants - $45,
- (ii) pet collar - $65 plus $10/month subscription, and
- (iii) "WUF" multicolored LED collar - $450.
Due to (c) and (d), Ctrl-Z assumes that a greater percentage of dog owners (i.e. 2.50%)
will purchase Pinder versus cat owners (1.75%).
Based on selling price of competitive products, Ctrl-Z sets the price of Pinder at $49.99 per unit.
The per unit cost to manufacture Pinder is $32.50 (refer to accompanying schedule).
To promote awareness of Pinder, Ctrl-Z incurs annual marketing costs of $250,000 in year 1, $70,000 in year
2 and $35,000 in year 3 and subsequent years.
2% of those who would ultimately purchase Pinder do so in year 1.
In year 2, 5% and in year 3, 10% and eventually 100% cumulatively by year 7. It is assumed that in
year 8 and subsequent years, sales are expanded to include the U.S.A. market and Ctrl-Z is able to
achieve annual profitability consistent with that generated in year 7. Our discount rate of 35% is an
estimate of the rate of return demanded by an equity investor in our Pinder Pet Finder business.
