Dave Cohen, a University of Illinois PhD student in the department of electrical and computer engineering (ECE), is leading a group that is working on a potential solution to the problem of overweight domestic cats. Under the auspices of a start-up called Petronics, the group has built the initial prototype for Mousr, a robotic “pet for your cat” that can sense the movements of your cat and react the way a real mouse would. The result could be endless amounts of playtime for the cat.