Motion Control

[karenlee]

Hi all

I'm toying with the idea of motion control and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions re: hardware. How are you doing it/what are you using?

I've seen several motion control devices for sale, but I'm not sure about CQC compatibility etc. so I don't want to just go out and buy willy-nilly without a better view of what's supported.

Any pointers will be appreciated.

Thanks
Karen

[sic0048]

Will the sensors be tied into a alarm system? If so, as long as the alarm system has a CQC driver and the motion hardware works with that alarm system (and most wired motion sensors will because they are generally just a open/close contact), they will work with CQC.

If not, then you'll probably need to look at one of the contact relays devices that CQC supports like the Carl's Electronics CK1610. Again, most motion detectors end up simply opening or closing a contact when it senses motion.

So to make a long story short, most normal motion detectors should be compatible with CQC either via a full blown alarm system, or just a simply contact relay device.

[wuench]

Or are you talking about something like Microsoft Kinect? Maybe point us to some examples of the devices you are looking at...

[karenlee]

Hi, thanks for the replies

At this stage, no, they won't be tied to an alarm system. I haven't really thought further than 'ugh, we keep leaving the bathroom light on, it would be good to have a motion sensor to switch it off automatically.' So that's as far as my user requirements have gotten!

I was thinking something along these lines (only cheaper, and supported by CQC)

http://www.homeautomationcompany.co.uk/p...on-sensor/

[sic0048]

I can think of two ways to do this.

1) If you already have a lighting system, then there is a chance that that the lighting system already has motion detectors for their system (like the one you posted). Obviously this differs with each system. Just get a motion sensor light switches or aux sensors (like the one you linked to) that tie into your lighting system. There is a chance that you could also have CQC detect the motion through the lighting system driver and do other things too if that lighting system is already controllable by CQC.

If you just have normal lights (no smart lighting system), you can get generic 110v switches like this for around $15 each. You can program the time the light stays on after sensing motion on each switch. This is nice because you can set it short for a closet, but longer for a bathroom where you don't want the lights going out while you are in the shower! The downside to this is there is no chance for CQC integration with these basic switches.

2) Get a relay box that CQC can interface with and hook regular alarm style motion detectors. If you have a lighting system that CQC can control, then you can have CQC start a counter and turn the light off after the counter expires. If you don't have a lighting system, then you could get 110v relays and place them in between the switch leg and the light. But that is a lot of work when you can buy those $15 motion detector switch shown above.

[wuench]

Yeah, I would say that those of us that are doing it are doing it either through our alarm system or through our lighting controllers both of which CQC can interface with. I think you could come pretty close to an equivalent price of that one sensor by buying a PLC, Light Switch, and Sensor for based on ZWave/UPB/Insteon.

I use a combination of my ElkM1 for the sensors and ISY/Insteon to tell CQC when there is motion.

[karenlee]

Thanks for the ideas. I do have the Rako lighting system, so that is probably the simplest approach, but their motion control unit is expensive, and I don't need the light-level detection.

I need to start thinking about creating a driver for Rako though...