Update: 04/05/2022: The sensors keep activating if a cat walks by. So far I have been unable to position them not to activate randomly because of the cats.
After discovering I can read the Philips Hue Motion Sensor activation state as part of my letterbox notification system, I am now building an alarm to detect any intruders in our house.
The basics:
- MacroDroid to automate everything
- IFTTT widget to toggle the alarm on/off
- Philips Hue Motion sensors to detect human activity (ignoring our cats!)
- AutoCast to sound an alarm on our Google Nest home speakers
- LampShade.io to blink our indoor and outdoor Hue lights
- Notification of emergency contacts to check the house
My beta setup is already working. I’ll add screenshot and perhaps a small movie (or at least audio) when things are ready. My first line of defense is Google Nest cameras (outdoor and indoor). And none of our doors accept a key. So this is just another (and the last!) layer to make it less appealing to have entered our house and find out there are no valuables anyway 😉
Now the biggest challenge is the sensitivity of the Hue motion sensors, as the cats keep triggering them even at the lowest sensitivity setting still.