Here’s my use case: I’m looking to get a sensor (probably a vibration sensor?) that I can mount to my desk chair so that I can write an automation such that when I sit in the chair, my screensaver wakes up. (The chair is a Herman Miller Embody office chair.)
(And I have Keyboard Maestro running on my Mac, which has the ability to trigger automations—like waking the screen—through webhooks. So as long as the sensor can reliably signal to Home Assistant when I’m sitting in the chair, I should be good to go.)
I’m equally open to sensors that might use ZigBee (whether ZHA or ZigBee2MQTT), Z-Wave, or Wi-Fi. (I have a ZHA coordinator installed and a ZigBee2MQTT coordinator installed, and I have a Z-Wave stick too.)
I’m comfortable around tech things, but I don’t have the patience to deal with flashing devices or having to publish custom MQTT commands to get things to work—so I’d really prefer a sensor that pretty much works for this application right out of the box.
And lastly, it’d be a plus if the device didn’t requite super-obscure batteries? That’s not to say that I’m ruling out CR### batteries or the like, but it’d be a bonus if the device’s batteries were the kind that you could find at a brick-and-mortar shop like Target or Best Buy (as opposed to having to order online from some weird sketchy seller).
Anyhow, does anyone have any recommendations for this sort of thing?
Out of curiosity, @sender, it kinda looks like that may be the Aqara motion sensor? If I might ask, does that have enough sensitivity out of the box to detect the vibration of someone sitting in a desk chair?
I don’t know that as I dont have it. It think given your requirements your option are rather limited.
According to the specs it can sense even the slightest vibaration. But again, worth testing…
Edit: only alternative I can think of is to go “physical”. E.g. a door sensor placed in such a way it triggers when you sit on the seat.
@K_White Ooh—that sounds promising! And as a follow-up question, can I ask what sort of battery life you were able to get from the Zooz sensor in that application?
PS If by chance you might not be using that Zooz Tilt Shock sensor anymore, I might even be open to buying it (and maybe also the holder?) from you, if you’d be up for that?
SmartThings door sensors (now made by Aeotec) have an accelerometer that senses vibration. I have an automation that picks this up as a knock at the door. I am sure it would trigger as you sit down and move the chair.
I believe, if remembering correctly, had it set for tilt only on medium.
That however, was with my chair and me, set at a certain spot on the back of it.
I don’t think what worked for myself would translate to working for you.
I tested it in multiple locations in my office chair, which also included underneath the seat using the shock settings.
Hi Ashley,
The Aqara vibration sensor will get the job done. The so called “earthquake” was required on standard sensitivity. The sensitivity however can be set to higher (as described here). The battery life of the CR# battery is claimed at around two years. Once the sensor is paired with you zigbee stick, HA can use the sensor to trigger your automation.
As a proof of concept I taped an aqara vibration sensor with sensitivity = 1 to my office chair (vertically) and sat down on it. This triggered an automation that sends a message to my phone.
I uploaded a demo on WeTransfer:
I use a presence sensor. Pair that with home assistant and HASS Agent. I walk into my office and the monitors wake. By time i make it to my chair, the monitors are awake.
Hey there, could you please share the solution you ended up with and any challenges you faced (if any)?
I have a few Aqara Vibration and Motion sensors, but I’m open to other options if they’re more suitable for the job.
I ended up going with a SmartThingsAeotec ZigBee motion sensor that I had lying around. Conveniently, that model of motion sensor has a built-in magnet at the back of it, and my standing desk also happens to have a couple of steel beams that run the length of the desk.
So I stuck the motion sensor to the one of the desk’s steel beams (facing my desk chair), and I intentionally chose one of the steel beams that was toward the back of the desk on purpose so that one of the desk’s other beams would block a portion of the motion sensor’s view (so as to try to limit the motion sensor’s view of anything other than my legs and feet as I approached the desk):
All in all, this setup has been working pretty flawlessly, and I couldn’t be happier with it. One aspect that I’m particularly happy with is that because I’m using a motion sensor rather than a vibration sensor, I don’t even have to touch my desk chair; rather, my screensaver automatically turns off when I’m about a meter from my desk.
Thanks for sharing this. It looks great. In my case, I was initially looking for something a bit more advanced, like an Aqara FP2 to track movement around the desk area and also to tell if I’m sitting or standing. I have a standing desk, so it would be nice to get some reminders automatically when it’s time to stand
Unfortunately, FP2 is not there yet (they promised sitting/standing/lying detection capabilities with a firmware update, but we’ll see about that). In the meantime, I will try a motion sensor.
Also, thanks for mentioning Keyboard Maestro, as it looks like a great automation tool. Especially if it supports webhooks.
And in terms of checking whether you’re sitting or standing, might it at all be possible to attach a door/contact sensor to one of the desk’s legs at the separation point? And then, once the desk ascends, might that be enough to separate the two halves of the door/contact sensor, which in turn would indicate to Home Assistant that the desk is in standing mode?
PS I can’t speak highly enough of Keyboard Maestro—it definitely supports webhooks, and it’s an amazing too overall! And as that goes, if you were to try Keyboard Maestro, and if by chance you were to get stuck anywhere, feel free to DM me and I’ll be happy to help you out with that.
I’m equally open to sensors that might use ZigBee (whether ZHA or ZigBee2MQTT), Z-Wave, or Wi-Fi. (I have a ZHA coordinator installed and a ZigBee2MQTT coordinator installed, and I have a Z-Wave stick too.)
I’m comfortable around tech things, but I don’t have the patience to deal with flashing devices or having to publish custom MQTT commands to get things to work—so I’d really prefer a sensor that pretty much works for this application right out of the box.
And lastly, it’d be a plus if the device didn’t requite super-obscure batteries? That’s not to say that I’m ruling out CR### batteries or the like, but it’d be a bonus if the device’s batteries were the kind that you could find at a brick-and-mortar shop like Target or Best Buy (as opposed to having to order online from some weird sketchy seller).
