Zigbee / Matter Motion Switch | Project Linus (Blue Series)

So Hot Right Now Projects & Roadmaps
#51

This project sounds amazing!

One additional software requirement is the ability to discern from the Hub end a physical button press, motion detection, and load state (on,off,dim) all independently, without changing the load state.

This allows for building reasonable human interactions, like “the garage lights just turned on from motion, but I don’t want them to turn off after 5 mins, so I just manually tap the on side of the paddle once.” This overrides the timer and keeps them on.

Or, “I need the lights to stay off while we sing happy birthday, so I manually tap the off side of the paddle”. The controller turns off the lights and ignores all further motion.

People that walk into the house shouldn’t need to be briefed on how to change the mode of the switch using the scene button or something else. A reasonable human might guess that trying to tap the on or off side of the paddle might make the lights stay in that state, like a normal switch.

This is a constant battle with the GE motion dimmers. In all fairness, this issue might be caused by limited SmartThings device handlers.

Another issue with the GE motion dimmers is that direct sunlight (even through a window) triggers the motion. Luckily the modules contain a light sensor, so the switch itself will ignore motion when the light is past a threshold, but it still makes some of the motion sensors unusable for security.

So, the takeaway is the light sensor is critical and its reading should also be accessible from the Hub/controller.

#52

It was not a miscommunication… it was their standard operating procedure, I have 3 or 4 Jasco switches left over (that I will replace when the Red Switches and Dimmers are in stock… or maybe Blue ones), and have had them for years, what he went through recently with regards to their firmware issues, I went through them with 5 or 6 years ago when I moved into my new house.

The only reason they changed, is because LTT has massive exposure, and that is what it takes sometimes to get a company to move forward.

#53

Might be out of scope here.

But high current pull and humidity sensor in addition to motion (I have seen plenty of all in one motion/humidity sensor switched, but they have been junk).

Great for bathrooms with exhaust fans in addition to lights. The one my that BG&E installed as part of a home energy improvement program absolutely sucks. Would operate similarly to the current Fan Light switch, 2 separate switches for two separate devices, one device would be the fan.

#54

It was a miscommunication in that there actually was no firmware update and so a firmware update wasn’t going to solve the issue anyway since the latest version was obviously buggy. I’m not saying that they aren’t bad at customer service. But that’s is off topic for this discussion

#55

Leviton just released a motion dimmer… but it’s WIFI… ugh.

#56

Wanted to give a quick update here – the engineers got back to me regarding design and how they would tackle this project and I have to say I’m pretty pleased if they can pull it off.

Here is their notes and suggestion below:

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Engineer Comment: In the above solution, the length and width of the mmWave part is 21mm x 7mm. After communicating with the mmWave chip manufacturer, this antenna design can only detect the distance of about 3-5 meters due to the relatively small size; and the Lux Sensor will also occupy part of the structural space.

In other words, if we put the mmWave and lux sensor at the bottom like that, the distance is heavily restricted, so they proposed the following:

  1. The length of the configuration button needs to be reduced. The reduced part of the configuration button is used to install the Lux Sensor and sense the external ambient light through the light guide column.
  2. Place the mmWave antenna in the middle of the button, and move the Zigbee antenna to the top of the button.

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Engineer Comment: The size of the mmWave antenna is 36mm x 14mm, which can reach a sensing distance of 10 meters. The size of the Zigbee antenna is 21mm x 7mm, which is smaller than the original size, which will slightly reduce the communication distance (slight effect)

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In other words, we’d be able to keep the same paddle length and they suggest we modify the config button to be smaller.

Since mmWave can go through plastic, we can utilize the full length of the paddle and use the larger mmWave antenna.

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The questions we had back were:

  • Can we move the lux to the bottom of the switch so that we can keep the config button uniform with our other switches?
  • Will the LED bar light interfere with the Lux sensor?

Other things to look out for would be:

  • They mentioned if the Zigbee antenna is smaller, it would impact the range – how bad would this truly impact it?
  • Calibrating mmWave sensitivity – no clue how to do this yet

From a cost standpoint, thus far it isn’t as bad as I initially budgeted for, so I think this will be in the $60-65 range, even if they raise the costs a bit as we go through the project.

Overall, I’m pretty pumped!

8 Likes
#57

I’m pretty pumped too!

1 Like
#58

The problem with humidity sensors in bathrooms, is that a light switch is usually not the optimal placement for the humidity sensor to be located and you will run into frustration of setting sensitivity high means it will kick on all the time or low and it never kicks on… there is no good sweet spot with bad placement.

You are better off with a remote sensor on the ceiling located near the shower/bath.

2 Likes
#59

Personally, I would prefer shrinking the config button as the engineer suggested over moving to a different location and potentially changing the look of the paddle and/or LED bar.

#60

Sorry, I should’ve explained better – we were thinking something like this:

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1 Like
#61

Something about those two examples is driving me nuts. It becomes very busy on the lower edge and nothing has any kind of symmetry between them. It’s a difficult problem to solve, because the paddle is offset and you already have the offset air-gap switch. I don’t know that centering it would make it any better… do you center on overall switch dimensions or paddle?

It might be worth asking if you can make the config button translucent and serve double purpose as a button and the window for the lux sensor.

#62

Looks fine to me… There’s no symmetry anywhere on the switch anyway. The paddle is already offset because of the button and light-bar on one side…

#63

I am absolutely all in on this, but only a zwave version personally! I hope that the supply chain sorts itself out on that soon…

#64

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5 Likes
#65

Can I pre-order now!? (I’m serious) And I will buy them again when the z-wave version becomes available.

1 Like
#66

Lol I want to test out a Kickstarter, but at the same time I want to get the 2-1’s in market first so we can get a win under our belt.

I think that will also add to the credibility!

But, I’ve been so excited about this switch, especially when the pricing came in well under what I thought it would :slight_smile:

9 Likes
#67

This is super exciting!!!
What frequency is the mmWave sensor? Is it 60GHz?

#68

Oh dang, I completely forgot to ask. Let me check!

1 Like
#69

If this goes through my recent purchases of Aqara and Visonic Zigbee motion sensors could be made obsolete.

2 Likes
#70

Thanks! Also, would having the mmWave antennae behind the paddle reduce peripheral visibility? How wide would it be able to detect presence in?