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I have a pet turtle that keeps flipping over in her aquarium. As a turtle can die if they are upside down too long, I am thinking of creating a simple, self contained position sensor to her back to alert me when she does it. It would need to be about 1 inch square and maybe 1/4 high and waterproof. I would like it to talk directly to an app, or to an intermediary receiver then to an app. I have a 3D printer and can fab the device enclosure, just looking for help on the electronics/mechanics.

Nick Alexeev
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Bfmdcc
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    Eh, a camera along with vision software would be far less intrusive and possibly more reliable. – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams Mar 01 '17 at 01:37
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    http://animals.mom.me/mean-turtle-keeps-flipping-over-11385.html – Tony Stewart EE75 Mar 01 '17 at 02:03
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    A healthy animal in a sound environment shouldn't be behaving suicidally all the time. Try to find the root cause of the problem, rather than treating the symptom with technology. My guess is that either the turtle is ill, or the aquarium (terrarium?) is poorly set up/furnished. If so, your sensor idea is only going to prolong its suffering. – Dampmaskin Mar 01 '17 at 02:13
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    A modern low power MEMS accelerometer and small digital radio MCU (proprierty 2.4 GHz or perhaps BTLE) should be able to do this, there are likely already small beacon-like eval boards with the accelerometer on them. The only really unusual part will be getting it fully moisture tight and glued to the shell. Consider making the system failsafe in the sense that your are notified not just if an "upside down" message is received, but also if a "rightside up" one is *not* received for several minutes. While you're at it you can build a turtle activity tracker webpage... – Chris Stratton Mar 01 '17 at 02:22
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    Typical fused filament 3d printers will not however be suitable - the results are porous, so water will seep through. – Chris Stratton Mar 01 '17 at 02:24
  • Instead of all the tech.. use your printer to make a roll-over bar so the poor thing can right itself. Then take it to the vet and figure out it's real problem. – Trevor_G Mar 01 '17 at 11:10

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First of all, aren't there reptile forums out there that address this kind of situation? Please be sure to consult the turtle experts.

It's just that I don't know if anyone should recommend a part considering the challenges of mobility, ruggedness, and safety. Whatever solution this is must be 100% guaranteed not to shock or electrocute a poor little animal.

But if something like this is truly the best path and turtle-based peripherals are still on the table, maybe you could just fashion a lightweight cone shape out of non toxic material and safely attach it to her back. And every time she rolls the cone forces her back onto her side.

edit: I noticed you have a 3D printer, you could model the cone to conform to the curves in her shell!

The Ana
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