I should have mentioned I had gone through the datasheet, I just wanted to confirm I was reading it properly. Ends up it was a dud, the other two work fine. Thanks!
This thing is impressive. After two days of tuning the DFrobot, the PIR is out of the box holding presence better than the radar.
Actually, there seems to be something off about the location I have the PIR, it never clears there. Is there a way to adjust sensitivity on the PIR itself? I think it is picking up heat from the TV (which is in front of the couch)
To your questionsâŚ
diagram of mmwave sensor placement and target zone
(attached)
orientation of mmwave sensor
I have tried antenna lines horizontal, and vertical but I get confusing results. Sometimes it seems like
vertical antenna lines is giving me horizontal FOV
In the attached Position A about 7 feet up seems to be the most reliable. One issue with the room is there is a ceiling fan above the couch which creates some placement limitations. I believe the air from the fan can also cause small movements with some fuzzy pillow and the like.
Currently it is setup in Pos. A with antenna lines going horizontally.
Actually, there seems to be something off about the location I have the PIR, it never clears there. Is there a way to adjust sensitivity on the PIR itself? I think it is picking up heat from the TV (which is in front of the couch)
Scratch that⌠it seems to be an issue with the USB PSU I was using on that wall to power it. Very strange
Thanks for the detailed reply and excellent diagram. I think this highlights some of the challenges and assumptions that are made that I myself have fallen trap to. Which has driven me to try and expel some of them in the mmWave Wars thread; albeit we arenât at the stage of providing full test results yet.
Discussing placement location A - based on the diagram is it safe to say that
the distance between A and the chair at the desk is approx 6M ?
the target (you) is obscured by the desk. Only exposing your upper torso?
And is it fair so summarize that you expect;
the mmwave sensor to maintain static presence detection of an obscured target at 6M at 45° off centerline axis?
Without spoiling too much of the mmWave Wars results that are yet to be published I will tell you this much;
detection range is reduced at 45° off centerline axis
the âsitting at a deskâ (aka an obscured target) has far reduced static detection range (below 3M depending on angle and level of movement in testing to date which is incompleteâŚ).
A few thoughtsâŚ
Given that the 100x100° version removes two rows of antenna block, Iâm going with vertical they donât make it easy on usâŚ
The challenge I have faced here is that a large target <2M from the sensor doesnât necessarily obey this. I need a larger room w/ far targets to really confirm.
Given that my working assumption is; you are beyond the range of ultra-small movement detection as 1.8 is a pretty low SNR. Increasing latency is likely the only improvement available here.
Thatâll do it.
This would indeed prove a challenge if the goal was for a single sensor to see everywhere and somehow ignore this. Which I donât see being the case.
Which brings up expectations. What about more than one sensor? While a âmid-wall-placementâ will be limited to that ceiling fan, a ceiling placement or âhigh wall, right at the ceiling, facing downâ might be an alternative. And require additional sensors to cover the full room.
Testing ThoughtsâŚ
Try placing it in the corner behind the desk. All the way to the top of the wall right at the ceiling, facing 45° down. And then test for a day with the sensor vertical, and another horizonal.
Set a low latency while testing. Observe the SNR on your phone while doing so. The sensor reports âno presenceâ at roughly the time SNR dips below zero then add the latency duration.
If you canât maintain presence with a 3sec latency, increasing the latency is a potential means to better report at the end-of-range for a particular application. But setting the latency low is the key in finding this âfringeâ area.
For ânearfield standing applicationsâ, a latency <10s is just fine.
For âoff-axis sittingâ, you may want to try 10-30s latency settings after you have confirmed you are at the fringes of sensor range for the application.
But only increase the latency when you have confirmed in testing w/ a latency of 3s that you are no longer âseenâ and donât go farther than this range. Increasing latency does not improve range.
Fantastic information, I really appreciate the time you put into all this.
There is a lot to digest here and some things I will need to investigate to respond to, but here is what I know off the top of my head.
Upper torso behind the desk, with perhaps my feet in view, is all Pos. A gets me at the rear right desk,. However, the black rear left desk has even more issues with losing me, and it is at about 10 degrees.
Another oddity is beyond those desks is a bedroom, and it picks me up in there with the doors closed.
Multiple sensors are always the way to go, I was just hoping to get adequate coverage with just one for cost reasons, as I have many more room to hit after I work out the issues in this oneâŚand these sensors are still backordered
I have come to realize that wall composition and radar behavior is something that is hard to predict. Therefore a sensor with max distance adjustment and suitable placement is the strategy I am going with atm.
âTheseâ as in DFRobot or other sensors? The Ali link in the mmWave thread has availability.
I think I got all the bugs worked out by just putting everything in an enclosure with an adjustable arm. My POC setup lacked fine adjustments, but I was able to nail it with this setup.
Hello, a great project, I also ordered two Panasonic Pir, EKMB1301112K not so many in Stock here in Germany
I just wonder how you trigger their automation in terms of daytime brightness? Do they have an extra light sensor that is not listed here? I mean you didnt want to switch on the light at every daytime on a Day
I am experimenting a bit here once with just the SEN0395 and the combo with the Panasonic PIR.
I donât know what a good scene or automation would look like in HA. I just like short turn off times, so far I canât do that in the living room with the Hue Motion Sensor without waving my hands a lot. Thanks alot for your help
The âturn offâ side of the automation actually changes based on lux, if the stove is on, etc. To leave the stove vent light on if cooking. You can do any number of things with HA.
Not OP, but I handle this with one outside Lux sensor to decide when to activate the lights or not. It works quite well as long as most of your rooms have windows.
I have a corridor without windows in which weâve replaced one door to be glass so we wouldnât have this issue. (Also, the old door was ugly and didnât close properlyâŚ)
@crlogic I am following your mmWave activity for a while and yesterday my SEN0395 module arrived. Thanks to your work the implementation was a charme and everything is working great.
But two questions havenât been answered yet:
In which direction of the sensor the 100°x40° apply?
The more important question - Why the use of an PIR is important? I heard a lot of âslow reaction time of the mmWaveâ etc. and was prepared to combine my already existing PIRs with the new mmWave sensor. But the opposite occured and the mmWave sensor is insanly fast. Especially directing to the door and setting up the distance correctly outperforms the PIR clearly. So i would like to understand, why you (and many other people) add a PIR. There must be something that I am currently overlooking. I have also only had the sensor for 24 hours.
Edit: Is it just the detection of small movements of objects (not humans) which leads to use the PIR as the initial trigger for âpresenceâ in a room? This would compromise the huge advantage of distance tuning for entrance areas.