Re: HA Holy Grail #1: Occupancy Detection

["David Gumbrell" <david.gumbrell@xxxxxxxxx>]

Andy,

The Idratek modules I have appear to use the Panasonic Napion sensors. I
think you can get them as components from RS. They are pretty sensitive,
but
siting is still important - the datasheet has all the range info. I mount
them over the sofa to maximise chances of retriggering. Seems to work
pretty
well. Also have to try to avoid them getting a look through door openings
so
you don't get triggers walking past an open door down a corridor, for
instance.

Oh - and I have door switches on all doors which helps the Idratek software
maintain occupancy knowledge.

The only room I have a problem with is because I haven't put the PIR in
it's
final resting place, so you can sit still enough for the occupancy to
timeout. Don't forget that PIR's can't detect through glass (eg  shower
surrounds), but I'm not sure that's the best candidate for CCTV motion
detection instead :-)

Cheers,

David

On 8/22/06, Malcolm Surgenor <malcolm@xxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>   Andy
>
> Not sure if this is what you're looking for but I reckon I have
> "reasonably
> reliable occupancy detection" in my house. Each room (and
externals such
> as
> garage, driveway, etc) has it's own occupancy sensor (some rooms have
more
> than one) and at any time I can tell if a "space" is
occupied or not, how
> long ago the last movement in that space was and how long it was
> continuously occupied or vacant before that. All of this data is
logged
> such that I can compare movement in each space - i.e. I can see that
our
> kitchen is the most used room in the house and the spare bedroom the
> least.
> The occupancy sensors also (in most cases) have dusk / dawn sensors
which
> whilst they are not so reliable do give a pretty good indication of
light
> levels in a room - data which can be useful.
>
> You're welcome to have a look at <http://217.155.28.94:8080/>
> http://217.155.28.94:8080/ - please
don't all rush at once! The login id
> and password are the usual HomeSeer ones of "guest" - for
both. Pick a
> room
> - the Spare Bedroom is probably a good starting point.
>
> In terms of response - i.e. from movement detected to HomeSeer turning
a
> light on (for example), I don't really have a problem with speed - it
> seems
> as fast to me as the commercial set up in my work's office (built Dec
> 2005).
>
> All the PIRs are just X10 motion sensors - nearly all US spec - that
talk
> back to the HomeSeer via a
> <http://board.homeseer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=705>
WGL Designs W800 RF
> Receiver with a modified (large) antenna to gain full house coverage.
The
> interface between the W800 and HomeSeer is a piece of software
(plug-in) -
> <http://board.homeseer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=778>
ACRF Processor . Both
> of
> these have support forums on the HomeSeer support board at
> http://board.homeseer.com/ The beauty
of the ACRF Processor is that it
> supports multiple interfaces as I also use RFXCOM's equivalent of the
W800
> but this time for RF temperature sensors. I've also had a look at
using
> RFID with this set up but couldn't really square the bang for buck.
>
> Once HomeSeer has received the signal indicating motion another
plug-in
> (Doo-Motion) handles the resulting action. Doo-Motion, for me, is a
> fantastic piece of software - both the inbuilt functionality and the
> flexibility to add your own code/scripts is excellent. It's Doo-Motion
> that
> gets HomeSeer to send the command to the light to turn on. Most of
these
> are
> ZWave controlled but I still have one or two X10 controlled. After
that
> Doo-Motion will 'automatically' remember to turn the light off again
after
> a
> pre-set amount of time (if no further motion). It's Doo-Motion that
also
> determines room/space occupancy and captures all the occupancy data. I
> also
> have virtual occupancy detectors which HS sets determined by the state
of
> other X10 PIRs - for example if all are 'silent' for a pre-set amount
of
> time then I can assume the whole house is empty and start getting
HomeSeer
> to do other things - i.e. make the house 'look' as if it's occupied!
:-)
> I've no interface to the house alarm at present though.
>
> Does any of that help?
>
> Malcolm
>
> Malcolm Surgenor
> http://www.surgenor.net
>
>
>
> _____
>
>
> From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx <ukha_d%40yahoogroups.com> [mailto:
> ukha_d@xxxxxxx <ukha_d%40yahoogroups.com>] On Behalf Of
> Andy Laurence
> Sent: 22 August 2006 09:49
>
> To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx <ukha_d%40yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: [ukha_d] HA Holy Grail #1: Occupancy Detection
>
>
> I've finally puched down all the CAT5 in Node0, so it's time to think
> about
> lighting. I've got the switches and lighting controllers sorted, but
what
> I'd really like is automgic lights. This leads me in pursuit of the
holy
> grail. Occupancy detection. Has anyone got a reasonably reliable
method of
> occupancy detection? I'm thinking a sensitive PIR, which triggers a
timer
> and turns the light on. When the timer reaches zero the light goes
off.
> Whenever the PIR is triggered, it resets the timer. I suspect I can do
> this
> with xAP Floorplan, although I've not checked yet. Has anyone
implemented
> this? If so, any recommendations for PIRs?
>
> Cheers,
> Andy
>
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