Motion Sensor Time Control

[bktong]

All,

I have a simple problem. I have a 2420 motion sensor and a SWL. I know I can put them into a scene and they work great. However, I do not want that scene to work until it is a certain time period. I know I can write a program and constraint it with From/To time. However, the scene would still run during other times since it is in a scene and the 2420 motion sensor does not have any time settings built in.

 

How can I can prevent the scene to run outside the time period?

 

I must have missed something since it is a simple situation.

 

 

Thanks.

bktong

[oberkc]

Programs are probably your best bet here. If you only have the motion sensor and one switchlinc, then there is no need to create the scene. In fact, as you point out, the scene would work without any time-based constraints.

 

Create a program that respondes to the motion sensor as a control. You can either use a program folder to constrain the program operational time, or a second condition in your program.

 

You did not specify what you intend to do as a response to motion, but be aware that there are a couple of pitfalls that one must avoid. These are generally associated with the possibility that your program is running when the time contraint expires. For example, if a program is waiting a few minutes before turning a light off, and your time condition expires, the light will remain on.

 

Also, there is a pretty exhaustive discussion on the wiki about motion sensors. It is probably best that you check it out.

[bktong]

oberkc,

Yes, I experienced the scenario you mentioned with the expiring time which cuts off/stops the program.

 

I can program the ISY to send an Off to the "motion-sense" but it doesn't really set it to Off to the sensor.

 

Also, I want a program to switch off the SWL at 30 seconds but if the sensor sees a motion within the 30 seconds, the SWL as gone off by the program but the sensor's status is still On. When that happens, the program does not run again because the status of the sensor didn't change even if it detects motion.

 

Do you have the link to the wiki?

 

BTW, this is for my staircase. It would light the staircase in the dark but I want it to only at certain period and not depend on the darkness. Besides, the 2420 sucks on the darkness setting.

 

thanks.

[Goose66]

Make sure your program is responding to "Control 'Motion-Sensor' is switched on" and not "Status 'Motion-Sensor' is on." This way your program will get every "On" sent from the motion sensor. If the program is running and receives a subsequent ON, then the wait counter will reset, and the light will stay on until 30 seconds after the last received motion.

 

Below is a sample program that uses these concepts:

If
       From    Sunset 
       To      Sunrise (next day)
   And Status  'Outdoor / Garage Keypad-Pizza Delivery' is not On
   And Control 'Outdoor / Driveway Motion-Sensor' is switched On

Then
       Set Scene 'Outdoor / Driveway Floods' On
       Wait  8 minutes 
       Set Scene 'Outdoor / Driveway Floods' Off

Else
  - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

 

You can put your time range in place of "From Sunet to Sunrise" and 30 seconds in place of the 8 minutes.

 

Two things. If your motion sensor is set to only send "On" commands, it will always have a status of On. Also, if the time range boundary condition (in my case at Sunrise) occurs while the program is running, then your light may be left on. If have another program that runs at Sunrise to cleanup all my outdoor lighting, including the driveway floods.

[oberkc]

I don't have the insteon motion sensor. Mine are X-10. Much has been written about the insteon version, though.

 

I can program the ISY to send an Off to the "motion-sense" but it doesn't really set it to Off to the sensor.

 

I don't see why this is necessary. I also understand that the sensor does not respond to insteon commands, only sends them. Based on what I have read, the insteon motion sensor sends an on command any time that it senses motion, after it has reset itself. I understand that there are various jumper settings that reset the internal timer and one for sending an off command. If you configure the jumpers (perhaps jumper 4?) in such a way as to send only on commands, then I would expect to recieve on commands each time motion is sensed. Since you would be using the ISY program to turn off your lights, then this should work for you.

 

As I recall, your problems are not unique. My link to the wiki is:

 

http://www.universal-devices.com/mwiki/index.php?title=Main_Pag

 

Hopefully, it still works.

[bktong]

kingwr and oberkc,

Thanks both. I will try setting the motion sensor to On-Only mode and give it a try again. I did some tests with the On-Only mode and I don't remember the exact results. It didn't turn off the light or the light didn't come back on when motion was re-detected. Anyways, I will try when I get home tonight.

 

oberkc,

BTW, I have a program and an X10 motion working but the between the program and the motion, the light comes on too slow. I would trip and fall off to the stairs landing before the light comes on. I thought the Insteon motion would work a bit faster but it might not because it running at the speed of the program.

 

bktong

[bktong]

I found this link:

http://www.universal-devices.com/mwiki/ ... _Bathrooms

 

Wow, I would never think it would be this complicated but I've learned a lot.

 

 

Thanks.

 

bktong

[Goose66]

I looked at that link when I was setting my Motion Sensors up with the ISY. That is crazy complex, and, IMO, unecessarily so.

 

A "quirk" in ISY programming is that if the trigger conditions occur again while a program is running and in a WAIT command, the program starts afresh and reevaluates the conditions. This fact makes much of the programming in that post unecessary.

 

Plus, programming your Motion Sensors just to send ON commands also simplifies the programming for the ISY.

 

It sounds like your main concern is not wanting to wait on the delay for the ISY to turn on the light in response to motion. One thing you could do is set the Motion Sensor to just send ON commands, set the motion sense POT to the lowest level (~30 seconds), and have the ISY manage the OFF after a WAIT in a program, such as:

 

If 
       Control 'Outdoor / Driveway Motion-Sensor' is switched On 

Then 
       Wait  8 minutes 
       Set Scene 'Outdoor / Driveway Floods' Off 

Else 
  - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action'

 

Put the Motion Sensor and the light in the scene. Each ON command will turn the light on (indepednent of the ISY) and the program will keep the light on until 8 minutes after the last ON command received.

 

Then, create another program thusly;

 

If
       From    Sunset 
       To      Sunrise (next day)

Then
       In Scene 'Outdoor / Driveway Floods' Set 'Outdoor / Garage Keypad-Driveway Flood' 100% (On Level) 
Else
       In Scene 'Outdoor / Driveway Floods' Set 'Outdoor / Garage Keypad-Driveway Flood' 0% (On Level)

 

This should accomplish what you want, albeit producing some unecessary Insteon traffic during the day when motion occurs and the light is turned "ON" to 0%.

[oberkc]

Then, create another program thusly;

 

Code:

If

From Sunset

To Sunrise (next day)

 

Then

In Scene 'Outdoor / Driveway Floods' Set 'Outdoor / Garage Keypad-Driveway Flood' 100% (On Level)

Else

In Scene 'Outdoor / Driveway Floods' Set 'Outdoor / Garage Keypad-Driveway Flood' 0% (On Level)

 

 

 

This should accomplish what you want, albeit producing some unecessary Insteon traffic during the day when motion occurs and the light is turned "ON" to 0%.

 

I like this solution for those who value highly the quicker reaction of a scene compared to a program. Keep in mind, however, that the ability to set on levels without a manual reset is not present in some of the older insteon devices. I cannot say which version incorporated this feature, but know that I can do this with some of my devices, and not others. My oldest are around three years old.