Sorry for the TL;DR… I had fun describing this…
I have a fairly elaborate Blue Iris (BI) video system with an embarrassingly high number of 3MP cameras. My security consciousness (i.e. paranoia) stems from having been victimized by punks who broke into my cars, or more recently have attempted to pilfer through unlocked cars in our neighborhood.
I’ve added an IR light curtain at the garage door and at the front porch. The sensors are tied to my DSC alarm via wireless door sensors. I removed the small glass reed switch, and tied the contacts of the IR beams to the sensors. When a given IR sensor is tripped, the DSC alarm notifies VERA through the DSC plugin. Vera then sends a luup command to my BI server, which sends a push notification to my phone, along with an emailed photo and 10 second clip. For additional exposure, I also have VERA strobe my Aeon RGB light bulb (which is centrally located in the house). Red/Blue if someone’s at the front door, and Blue/Orange/Green if they’re in the garage. All of this works great, and notification happens within 2-3 seconds of the sensor being tripped.
However, having a reliable way to notify me in real time when someone is attempting to access my truck (parked in my driveway) has been a challenge. While I can use BI to detect motion in the camera, any moth or cat that passes through the motion detection zones will trigger a false alarm. Having an IR beam near/around my truck is also impractical since there are no natural or man made fixtures to which I could attach them. Thus, the only way to know if someone was attempting to get into my truck is to review the previous night’s recorded video. While that doesn’t take long, it is something that I often forget to do.
Last night I had an epiphany. Proximity sensors. Car alarms can be equipped with radar-based proximity sensors which can detect if someone is within X feet of your vehicle. A quick search revealed this sensor - which is a stand alone 12V operated module. Powered with constant vehicle power, it has pulsed relay outputs for two zones. A small potentiometer allows for the adjustment of the zones.
When this module arrives, I will install it in my truck console, and adjust it so that if someone is within 12" of the truck doors, it will trigger. I will then connect a spare DSC window/door sensor (again modified to accept the output of the proximity sensor). If it works as envisioned, should a perp walk up to the truck to test the door locks, VERA will know within a few seconds - without any external indication to warn the perp. Using PLEG, I will script VERA to ignore such triggers unless they occur between say, 11P and 5A.
So the real question is, what ACTION should I have PLEG take to make this fun? Turn my master bedroom lights up to 100%… Maybe have BI send a push notification blaring a siren? Maybe even open my garage door! Ha! The perp would probably @$*% his pants… Oh the fun to be had.