Trouble with Automation trigger - understanding logging

[nathanwinters]

Hi,
I’m just getting into SmartThings and starting using Automations.
I’ve got a motion sensor which I’m trying to use simply to control a light.

The automation seems to work - i.e. it triggers and turns the light on. I’ve then set the light to auto turn off after 1 minute. All that seems to work… however the automation then doesn’t seem to trigger again for a while… i.e. if someone is in the room - but just still, then the light may turn off… but then they move, the light doesn’t turn on again.

I’d love to understand more about how to track the automations… what logging is there for example, and what is the right way to troubleshoot this?

Thanks
Nathan

[orangebucket (Graham)]

You might want to check the specs of your motion sensor to make sure your automation is a good fit for it. Many of them implement a ‘blind’ period once they’ve reported motion, meaning they don’t check for motion for a certain period of time. For some sensors this can be as long as three minutes or so.

So if you are just turning the light off after one minute regardless, you might find the motion sensor isn’t yet ready to detect motion again.

[rowladar (Daran)]

I have exactly this set up for the led strip on my staircase and it works fine… the screenshot from the new ST app is as follows:

[nathanwinters]

Thanks for the thoughts.
@rowladar Daran, if you hang around in that area of sensor coverage… i.e. in your hall or landing for more than a minute what happens? i.e. does the light stay on, or does it go off and then come back on, or does it simply go off and stay off even if you’re still in the hall?

@orangebucket I will see if I can find out more about the specs… the sensor is an Aurora AONE motion sensor in case anyone else knows.

Thanks

[rowladar (Daran)]

@nathanwinters it goes off and then if I make a move and the led on the PIR sensors shows that it’s detected movement, the led strip comes back on for another minute a moment later.
FYI it’s just an RGBW LED strip that is taped to the underside of the glass banister, connected to a MagicHome wifi controller that IFTTT controls via a virtual switch I set up in IDE