Background
I use a motion sensor in my walk-out basement, but I have been experiencing false alarms on occasion. They do not occur every night, but as I intend to integrate a loud siren to the system I very much want to fully eliminate them. I have tried moving my motion sensor around but it seems like some level of false alarms are inevitable. To eliminate false alarms I would like to add a second sensor at a different angle from the first and configure the system to require BOTH motion detectors to trip within a given period of time before an alarm is raised. I am using a VeraPlus on the latest firmware (just updated tonight) and Fibaro FGMS-001 motion sensors.
Problem
I cannot figure out how to require two motion sensors to detect motion before an action is taken (such as sending text notifications and/or triggering a siren). Is it possible to build such a configuration?
Additional Information
I currently have scenes scheduled to Arm and Disarm a single motion sensor at a set time at night and in the morning, and manually set the sensors to Arm whenever I am out during the day. I would like a solution that supports that same functionality - automatically setting itself at night and (for now) allowing me to take an action like setting the system to “Away” mode during the day.
The usual response is to try PLEG, but I think you can do what you want with 2 conditional triggers OR’ed together. You want to trip when (motion1 triggers AND motion2 is already tripped) OR (motion2 triggers AND motion1 is already tripped). See this page for information on conditional execution of scenes: http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,18679.0.html
The above assumes that the tripped period is long enough that it will cover the time for the motion to be detected at the other motion detector. Usually Z wave motion detectors take about 4 minutes after a trip, so that is plenty of time. If you have some other motion sensor where that is not the case, you may need to add more complicated logic with timers. And then PLEG makes even more sense.
Thank you! It looks like I have some learning to do to implement that type of solution, but it will be a good project for me to get a bit more advanced with.
A bit off-topic, but it surprises me just how much controllers are still in their infancy, lacking great UI’s, being full of bugs, and lacking relatively basic features (like an “OR” option for conditions). For all the hype you hear about the “Internet of Things” and investment discussion around it in silicon valley, the reality is that it’s still a flaky expert technology. It’s possible to parallel it’s current state with many other technologies that emerged before they were really ‘ready’, like VoIP in the early 2000’s. Unfortunately that past history suggests it will be ~10 years or so before this stuff starts to really take off.
I think you’ll find the ‘OR’ is easy - just have 2 triggers for one scene. The harder part is the conditional execution which gives you the AND you need.
And your comments are spot on. Nobody seems to have completely pulled this together. Either you have a relatively closed system that works very well with limited devices, or you have an open system that mostly kinda works but has issues. Honestly, I wonder about the Vera business model. They sell the hardware one time at fairly low prices and have no recurring revenue based on that, yet need to continually support the new devices that come out. I want them to stay in business and add support, but I admit that I am price sensitive. I hope they keep the right balance to stay solvent. Maybe that’s the reason for the VeraSecure - it “secures” a revenue stream for them.
Apple, Smarthings, Homeseer, OpenHAB, …?
But don’t be fooled by this or any other forum. People post when they have issues, but when things are going well they rarely post. So you get a somewhat biased view of automation when you look in the forums. There are real issues with UI7 and Vera, that’s true, but how universal they are is not clear to me. My old VeraLite on UI5 has been running trouble free for years.
Could you use a Combination Virtual Switch? I’ve used these for both AND and OR functions. I’ve never used it with two motions sensors, but it may be worth a try. It’s pretty easy to configure as well.
Combination switch will work. I use it to switch to Away mode when both iPhones have left the house. But PLEG is a very powerful tool. I have very few scenes anymore - mainly to trigger VeraAlerts notifications.
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