Hi. I just bought a Smartthings Hub v3 and three motion sensors. I bought this to install in my elderly mother’s house. She lives alone, so I would like to have a system alert me when there’s a long period of time without motion in her house.
The hub is set up, and I placed a motion sensor just to test. When trying to setup an automation in the Smartthings App, I encounter a problem.
I would like to set up an automation so that when there’s no motion between a period of time, that I get a notification. This is how I tested it in the app:
Automation: if period of time start 11:00AM and end 11:05AM, and motion sensor is No Motion, then notify members.
Nothing happens after this period of time. What am I doing wrong?
I believe (I may be wrong) that you’re not getting the alert because the sensor isn’t switching from motion to no motion within the time frame you’re testing. The automation is watching for the sensor to change status. If it stays on no motion the whole time, there is no trigger to see and act upon.
Make your test period longer and move around at the start. If you’re sure there will be movement at some time during the actual monitoring period, you should be fine. If you’re worried there will be no movement from the start, you’ll need to come up with another notification trigger.
Are you using the new smartthings app, or smartthings classic? You may find one of the smart care smart apps available in the classic app helpful.
I just wanted to add that many people find that a contact sensor is more reliable for this kind of monitoring. You could put one on the refrigerator, on the bathroom door, on a drawer which is regularly opened such as for medication, on the cabinet where the coffee is kept, etc. … these often give you more accurate monitoring as they will not generally have false alerts.
Thanks for the input. I understand what you say. I’ve tested it; during the selected timeframe I triggered the sensor, but when the sensor goes back to standby, I get a message that there’s no motion anymore. I will keep getting that message after every time the sensor goes back to no motion, which will be like dozens times a day.
The idea is to get a notification when during a certain period of time the sensor has not detected motion at all.
If you’re using the new smartthings app, you can make an automation that triggers only if all 3 sensors show no motion for a selected period of time. See the pic below for an example:
