Cats come home at hours that suit nobody’s schedule. The flap has to open quietly, quickly, and without waking the house.
The motor is tuned for a soft close rather than a snap, and night events use 940nm infrared — invisible to the room, still readable at the door.
When the network is down, the local rules keep working. A door that needs the cloud to let your cat in is a door that fails at the worst possible moment.