How Do Motion Detectors Work High Quality

You can use motion sensors to automatically turn on a light when someone approaches your home, sound an alarm when movement is detected in your living room, or trigger a motion sensor camera to start recording when someone enters your home.

An active ultrasonic motion detector emits ultrasonic sound waves that reflect off objects and bounce back to the original emission point. When a moving object disrupts the waves, the sensor triggers and completes the desired action, whether this is switching on a light or sounding an alarm.

Dual-technology detectors are, as their name implies, sensors that rely on two different motion-detecting technologies to watch for movement. These are a bit more impervious to false alarms, as both technologies have to be tripped for the alarm to sound.

When deciding where to place each motion sensor, make sure they are at least 10 feet away from bright windows, radiators, and heating vents, as abrupt changes in temperature or HVAC-related airflow may trigger false alarms.

A motion sensor, or motion detector, is an electronic device that uses a sensor to detect nearby people or objects. Motion sensors are an important component of any security system. When a sensor detects motion, it will send an alert to your security system, and with newer systems, right to your mobile phone. If you have subscribed to an alarm monitoring service, motion sensors can even be configured to send an alert to your monitoring team.

A PIR motion sensor uses these temperature changes to detect the presence of a person or object. Like active ultrasonic sensors, PIR sensors can be set to ignore small changes in IR, so you can walk around your home or business without setting off alarms all day and night.

Tomographic motion sensors are made up of multiple nodes. The nodes link together, forming a mesh network. These sensors detect the presence of a person or object when the link between two nodes is broken.

Microwave motion sensors emit microwave pulses. Much like an active ultrasonic sensor, the microwaves bounce off objects and return to the sensor. They actually cover a larger area than PIR sensors, but are more susceptible to electronic interference.

The lenses on many of these motion detectors are broken into segments. The segments allow you to focus on some areas of a space and ignore others. As a result, you can configure detectors to ignore certain types of motion or motion in specific zones.

Finally, you can purchase detectors that use both kinds of technology, PIR and microwave. The advantage of dual-technology sensors is that they verify one another. Both sensors have to detect movement before the detector registers that movement. This verification method helps prevent false alarms.

THE MORE YOU KNOW: Because they rely on radio waves, tomographic motion detectors work through walls. As a result, such detectors can cover large areas and hide behind objects or within walls.

Asking whether you need a motion detector is a little like asking if you need a home security system. If you want to keep your home safe from intruders, the answer is always going to be yes. Even apartments need security systems!

You can adjust the lenses of a PIR sensor, for example, to pick up movement in specific areas. In addition, most motion detectors have dials that allow you to set their sensitivity levels. With this feature, you can get your detectors to ignore your pets.

Light can set off a motion detector. If the detector uses light-based sensors, such as PIR sensors or area reflective sensors, turning on the light creates a rapid change in the electromagnetic spectrum the sensors are reading. That change can register as a movement.

Bay Alarm. (2020).