Routine using Arlo motion to trigger lights/scene problem

Hoping this is pretty straightforward. I have an Arlo camera system and a bunch of Tuya lights.
I’ve managed to get SmartThings to trigger some lights in a scene when motion is detected after sunset.

However, the lights are triggering roughly a dozen times per evening even though the camera only activated twice. I think this is because I’ve setup an Activity Zone so the camera only monitors/alerts for that area and it also only Alerts for People and Vehicles too. Is there anyway to get SmartThings to only run Routine based on those parameters too? For example last night all the lights turned on at 3AM when a possum ran across the Driveway, Arlo didn’t alert us but I can see ST detected motion and ran the routine.

My ideal setup would be:
Camera motion in Activity Zone triggers a Scene or Light(s) for 5 minutes and then returns the devices to their prior state (IE if the light was already on leave it on, or if the light was off return it to off).
Bonus challenge: I’d like to make some indoor lights activate first like a 10 second delay, before the scene runs for outdoor lights so it appears as though someone is inside the premise. Almost like when Routine is finished Trigger another Routine?

I had similar issues and solution I made up to avoid false motion alarms was to buy a separate Phillips hue motion sensors which turns my cameras on on a motion and if camera detects motion after that, only then my routines will execute. As a bonus batteries in my Arlos last now forever when they don´t have to be 24/7 on and those Hues also has illuminance sensor, so my light won´t turn on except when it´s dark enough :sunglasses:

If you`ve setup your outdoor lights to go on for 5 minutes on, you could make a simple separate scene to turn indoor lights on and add executing that scene to your outdoor light routine with a 4m 50s delay if you wan´t your indoor lights on 10s before outdoor lights turn off?

1 Like

Interesting solution, but unfortunately I don’t have Hue lights. I mean Arlo is working fine, it’s just ST keeps getting alerts when it shouldn’t… is it a problem on Arlo’s end or ST’s?

The other issue is I don’t have external power hence why I’m using Arlo battery cameras and I can’t run power as I don’t own the house.

I managed to figure out the delay, thanks for that. Unfortunately because my Tuya lights are Tap-to-run automation on/off virtual switches the “auto-turn-off” setting isn’t available. And I don’t really want to auto-turn off, I’d like to just auto-return-to-prior-state.

If you have SmartThings/Aeotec hub, you don´t need Hue hub or anything special for Phillips motion sensors, they have an edge driver and they work great directly with ST + they´re relatively cheap and work with batteries. And as said, best thing is that they multiply your cameras battery life when you don´t have to keep cameras always on. My Arlos last easily a year without charge :slightly_smiling_face:

In you routine you probably have to add IF condition if the lights are already on or not?

Wow that sounds great, have you got a link to the motion sensor? How does it go with animals outside, I also have a cat so if I want an indoor sensor to trigger alarms might be an issue?

Unfortunately I don’t have a hub. Have you got a link for the version you’re using?
How is your automation/recipe setup?

The other issue is range, my current Arlo camera is 10m away and I get about 2/3 bars of signal but it is able to detect motion 10m away. By the time I get to 20m my wifi signal is all but gone becuase I have I have double-glazed windows which interferes with my external wifi so putting a motion sensor down towards where it needs to detect motion might be an issue?

There are still some false alarms from time to time, but very rarely because motion needs to be detected 2 times before action. Hue sensors detect motion from much larger area than my Arlo Pro 3 cameras, so you should be able to install them same wi-fi range as your cameras?

My routines for turning on/off cameras are just:
IF motion sensor active for x seconds turn on camera
IF motion sensor inactive for 3 minutes turn off camera

And then there´s of course own routines for cameras.

Here´s links for hub (there´s only one hub) and sensor:
https://aeotec.com/products/aeotec-smartthings-hub/

So I’ve ditched the Arlo cameras, they ended up screwing their app with a new user interface so I’ve purchased Google Nest cameras.

As far as the Hub goes, can I ask why you ended up opting for the Aeotec Hub vs the Philips Hub? I’m trying to be forward planning now and purchase something that will be Matter-enabled and give me more flexibility for potential future purchases. Thanks for the link to the sensor too, confirmed I was looking at the right one.

Thanks for your help, looking forward to getting it all working hopefully.

If you only have 1 hub, Aeotec is way more versatile with things you can connect to it. For example I have home energy meter, radiator valves, door lock and many other 3rd party things connected to it. Also one advantage is that it has a build-in wi-fi so you don´t need to keep it near router and connect it with ethernet cable.
How´s the Nest integration these days? I used to have Nest camera and by the time integration was pretty horrible. It was always super slow and I couldn´t even turn off the camera via SmartThings or trigger motion from it :neutral_face:

1 Like

Yeah I just added my Nest camera into SmartThings and it can’t turn the camera on or off which is annoying.
Is having the Aeotec Smart Hub likely to provide more functionality? I know Nest Cams are now Matter enabled and the Aetotec Smart Hub is also Matter enabled, likely to help?

I’m trying to figure out if there is any benefit to spending $150 AUD on a Hub plus another $350 for x5 of the Hue Motion Sensors, if it can’t turn the cams on and off what other benefit do they bring? Can I for example say ‘IF’ sensor detects motion ‘AND’ SmartThings detects motion on Camera ‘THEN’ record? Like two factor confirmation?

The other option is I can keep Arlo, but I still need to buy the Motion Sensors and the Hub to turn the cams on/off and I still have to pay monthly to get cloud recording.

So far… I’ve noticed the Nest Cam stream is lightning fast compared to Arlo so I’d ideally like to keep the Nest camera and reinvest some of the money I get back from my Arlo system to enhance the Nest setup, even though it’s only 1080 HD quality.

Hi sonikky, may I ask you if you made such integration only by ST? Do u use an Arlo system with its own hub or cameras are connected directly to the web and so to ST?
I have huge trouble with Arlo integration in ST…