Simple security light question…have the scenes setup as shown in picture.
What do you guys recommend I use to trigger the scenes from my iPhone/iPad - iVera/SQRemoteHD not longer supported?
I need some kind of audible z-wave alarm/buzzer notification, not too loud to wake the kids, any ideas? Maybe something to turn on the iPhone speaker? Could be part of the App?
When this happens, I want to email the pictures from three Foscam Camera’s, how?
Currently playing with the motion sensor sensitivity of the Foscam camera to see if I can make it work, alternatively, I have to use a dedicated motion sensor.
Few Tips:
Motion detector must be enabled on the Foscam Interface.
In Vera 3, had to change camera “Advanced Settings” ->“State” - 2 for the motion sensor to showup in Vera.
In Vera 3, had to change camera “Advanced Settings” ->“device_type” - urn:schemas-upnp-org:device:DigitalSecurityCamera:2 for ARM/BYPASS to work.
Ensure the motion sensor “On Time” is longer than the light ON setting to avoid a re-trigger of the motion sensor when the light turns OFF.
You need to enter the MAC address of the camera in the settings tab in order for the archives to work.
Oh, and sometimes when I arm the motion sensor, the scene activates like it was tripped…probably cause of the value in the sensor trip field? Do I have to luup it back to 0?
Most excellent! With your guidance I got motion detection working on an outdoor Foscam! I take this to mean any of the Foscam’s ought to work this way. The ideal solution for what I have in mind is the Power over Ethernet models.
This solves a major hurdle in my planning. I suppose I shouldn’t assume official documentation is always correct. Yay!
I just noticed that the motion detector object constantly shows tripped. I believe this is indeed why you’re seeing it trip as soon as you arm it. Manually setting it to 0, and then tripping it again will cause it to go to 1, and stay at 1. So, we just need to add some script to set it back to 0 again.
I created a scene that triggers upon “An armed sensor is tripped”. Then I added the following line of code. Substitute the 86 for whatever DeviceId of your Foscam motion detector object. It half fixes our issue. When the device is armed, it will set the “tripped” value back to 0 properly. The issue is, if the device is bypassed, then the code is never run. This means the next motion trip will leave the “tripped” value at 1. This means as soon as the motion object is armed again, it triggers the scene. What do you think?
FYI, I would not rely on cameras for motion detection. The reliability is not there. Not all cameras support this feature as firmwares very between models.
Manually setting it to 0, and then tripping it again will cause it to go to 1, and stay at 1. So, we just need to add some script to set it back to 0 again.
This is NOT doing what you think it is … You are basically ignoring the synchronized state between Vera and the Camera … The camera does THINK it’s tripped. But Vera will not see another trip until the camera indicates it’s NOT tripped and then later it’s tripped again.
Basically the Motion sensor on the cameras do not work well outside or in the dark.
Correct…play with the “On Time” setting for the Motion Detector in Vera - ensure the light is ON for a shorter time, to avoid retriggering the motion detector when the light turns OFF.
The camera that is facing the driveway is the one I’m using to control the porch lights at the moment…I’m not to concerned about false triggers, and it’s working pretty well so far (I’m using a single scene to turn on the lights, and use the “delay” option to turn them off - I know, beware of “heal” using the delay function).
@ RoyR, Sexy set up! This is what I have in mind for one of my clients. They don’t need the highest tech set up, but something akin to this. I’ll be using a Synology NAS as an NVR, and a PoE switch for power. This means using Foscam’s PoE bullet cameras. FI8905E is the model number. This leads me to Garrett’s rueful comment… I’ll just have to buy one of these things just to test it. I know for certain my cheap-o D-Link cameras do not have motion detection available for the Vera. Yet according to the literature, this Foscam I am using isn’t supposed to work either.
@Garrett, thanks for the warning. I’ll do my homework before I recommend this to my client. Truly she doesn’t NEED motion detection from the cameras, but it would make the Z-Wave light switches she has in mind work much better. The alternative is the conventional motion detector/flood light combo one finds at home improvement stores. That means the circuit must be always on at night, and smart switches then become far less useful.
@RichardTSchaefer, @RoyR, Thanks guys. Both of your comments make me understand that what was happening was the OnTime value was set too high. It was just going to go back to a closed state after a long period of time. I just wasn’t waiting long enough.
I set up a Vera Alerts notification on my cell phone whenever the motion detection scene I wrote triggers. Interestingly, if I leave the OnTime value really high such that it’s set to 1 for a long time… and I keep creating motion, it will trip that scene over and over, despite the motion detector showing open constantly. To me this indicates that the Foscam doesn’t care what state the Vera is in, and the Vera is blindly following the OnTime value. Makes me wonder if I still don’t understand what is going on. This behaviour suggests this will be a problem when the lights turn off after awhile, causing the motion detection to possibly trip again. Feedback loop?
Yes, this is an ideal plan B. It will likely be the most reliable method of exterior motion detection. This would be done in any situation where the house warrants higher end cameras that aren’t likely to do motion detection for Vera. It’s just a pain is all. Outdoor rated motion detectors can be run while the Ethernet lines for the camera go in. Just annoying extra work and cost.
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