Inovelli inovating again with mmWave Smart Swtich

It's great to see news like this from Inovelli, I know it's a Indiegogo campaign but if this comes to market I will no longer need to use my Ecobee sensors as occupancy sensors and opens up a lot when the wife says you can't put anything else on walls.

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Exactly !

This is such a next level device. :exploding_head:

Let me play devil's advocate...

To me this device won't work. As someone who already uses mmWave to detect motion, having it built into the light switch will never work. mmWave is too sensitive and needs to be put in just the right place to not detect unwanted things. Like window curtains that move when the window is open or has a heat/ac vent under it making it move. Ceiling fans are another thing to avoid, so being able to angle the sensor down a bit or a little left/right is a must. I don't see any info or ability to do this within the switch.

Also, take a look at where your motion sensors are now and then look where your switch is. Would you have ever considered putting a motion sensor right there (at switch)? I doubt it very much. The light switch is just not a good spot to put any kind of motion sensor. It just won't 'see' the room. Sure, it will see you walk in/out but what about where you sit?

Hopefully you see my point. Nice to think outside the box but I would have much rather seen a stand alone mmWave motion sensor with all the bells and whistles that Inovelli likes to put into everything. Oh well, maybe at some point!

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I agree with you that it won’t work in every situations. It will either requiring a pre-existing switch in just the right spot, or for the user to add a switch in such a spot while building a new house which should’t be a huge issue, or adding/moving a switch in a new location which requires a bit more effort…

From what I have seen, the switch is not much more expensive than some of the mmWave sensors out there, so that is a plus! I think it will work well in some cases combined with other sensors. It will also be nice that the sensor doesn’t stand out and doesn’t require any cable running down the wall to it or batteries requiring changes!

I’m lucky enough to have several spots in my house that are the perfect location for a sensor and that is also where this switch will be located. Unfortunately however, all those spots already have smart switches/dimmers, so I expect to have a bunch of spare non-motion sensing ones soon after they start shipping!

Only thing we can do now is wait and see. I see this in the FAQ which is promising. Distance, sensitivity and latency is user configurable through your hub.

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We have a small house with one small full bathroom -- since a motion sensor loses us behind the shower curtain when we're showering, this device would be perfect - the switch position is ideal to see everything in the bathroom, and it faces an outside wall.

If it works, it would hugely simplify all the convoluted rules I currently use to manage motion-based lighting in that bathroom.

So I'm in for one switch on indiegogo - glad to see the project still moving along!

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I am using GE Switch/MS combo in the Corridor and Bathroom.

Evidently there is some zone control w/the switch...

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Thanks for bringing this up for discussion! We're super excited about it (and apparently everyone else is too -- basically fully funded in 24hrs... wow).

It's nice to be back in the innovation game. I know we cranked out the Blue 2-1's and soon with the Red 2-1's, but this one feels like a true innovation, which is exciting!

Friggin pumped! Let's go!

These are great points and definitely challenges we'll have to overcome. I completely agree with you (except for the, "it won't work" part haha) and we have some ideas to alleviate some of the concerns.

I think we can figure out the ceiling fan issue as there will be regions built into the firmware that you can eliminate from being picked up. Picture something like a 6x6 grid -- you could tell the sensor to ignore the top 1x6 row if the ceiling fan fits within it.

Another great point and something we thought about too. I think @Sebastien brings up a good point in that in some situations, you're right, it just won't work and we would suggest finding a standalone one (hopefully we can develop it ourselves, but there are also a couple good ones on the market) to either compliment the switch, or simply replace it.

However, our CTO has mounted the Aqara FP1's right next to his light switch and he uses it for turning his lights on upon arrival and turning them off after he leaves. I'm not familiar with the layout of his rooms, but from what he's told me, the lights have never turned off while he sits there. But to your point, if you're sitting at a weird angle or out of the Field of View, it will certainly not pick you up. But I imagine in the right settings, it will cover most of the room.

Definitely something fun to test and tweak!

Yeah this is my number one use-case personally. My kids never turn off the lights in the bathroom, it's super annoying. Right now I have some rules setup that when both adults are gone from the house the lights shut off (which works now because we typically don't leave the kids alone -- but this will change once they're older) but it would be much nicer to have them turn off the bathroom lights once the kids leave the bathroom.

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My gut reaction was hoping for a zwave version as I’m primarily a zwave house, but maybe that won’t matter as much as i think it will.

But I’m very glad to see Inovelli innovating again. I’ve wanted an Inovovelli motion switch for a while.

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We're tossing around the idea of a stretch goal (ie: if we can hit $xxxx - enough to cover R&D costs) to bring a Z-Wave version to life. Just waiting to hear back from a couple manufacturers on costs as Z-Wave typically is more expensive.

I'd love to see a Z-Wave version honestly. 800 Series + Long Range = Amazing.

Hopefully we can make it happen!

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I guess I better get my wallet over to indiegogo then. :slightly_smiling_face:

LOL. Um, no. That would lead to divorce in my house. :slight_smile:

Just kidding (well, not really) - whatever works for you.

I have 6 different brand/version mmWave sensors, and can echo your comments.

These will work in some scenarios, no doubt, but this won't be the "magic bullet" of motion and presence detection some think it will be. At least not universally.

Still a neat product though. I might pick one up once they are released to play with (if there is any actual stock - see their current Blue 2-in-1.... No stock, no date given... Just backorder, largely due to their recall screwing up all availability.)

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In my house, there are a very few places where the location of the switch would make it a good location for an mmWave sensor. Quickly counting, probably only 4-5 switches out of about 30.

Of course, thinking about it, 2 of those are in my kitchen and are already Red Dimmers.

I plan to swap out some of my existing blues or reds for the new mmWave sensor (3-1?) blue dimmers. Kitchen is one of those spots, along with Den, Family Room and 2 bathrooms. There are a few other spots that I am thinking of, but those ones will be the first.

If I want more than one, but don't want the five-pack, is there a way to do that without paying full-rate shipping three times? Or alternatively, will backers be able to pick up more at discounted prices once they're ready?

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