New Aqara Zigbee 3.0 occupancy sensor (FP1) looks interesting

I agree.

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@kkossev
Ok yes after playing with the FP1 abit more I understand. I had incorrectly assumed that motion would go inactive if I stay very still.

Unfortunately due a recent medical condition (diabetes) causing extreme eye strain. I can not read for more than a minute. So can not read through your DH.

But thanks the DH and these FP1 devices work great.
Ordered 4 more.

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Sorry to hear that, especially as a fellow diabetic. I hope your retinopathy comes under control very soon.

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Hi everyone, I've been following this topic and thinking about buying the sensor. However, since it's a bit expensive, I was hoping someone could answer some questions based on their experience? Thanks!

  1. What is the range of the sensor (how far away does it detect presence)?

  2. Does it need line of sight to the person to detect presence?

  3. How is the battery life so far?

  4. Paired directly to Hubitat, does it need to be readded often or does it stay paired?

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  1. Mine has been working great at about 15-20 feet. It seems to reach further but i don't need it to for my application.

  2. Nope. while it can go through things, it is not really designed to go through walls, Any hard/thick object will drastically reduce the accuracy. Just depends on how close the object is to the sensor.

  3. No battery, usb powered.

  4. Zigbee 3.0 should solve that problem. I've only had mine a couple of weeks now but haven't had any issues so far!

Also note that this thing sees everything! Ceiling fans, fish tanks, window treatments barely blowing in the wind, pets. ANY movement, lol. So placement is critical.

So far I've installed one FP1 in the Kitchen, replacing the 3 iris motion sensors and the lights don't go off while we are eating! I have a second one coming for the Living Room, that placement will be a lot more tricky.

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I have had the same experience as @bptworld... working well for me so far.

Pretty decent like Bryan said, you can also adjust the detection distance which I assume tracks with the power level. I have one in our den and it works pretty much everywhere in there even when someone is laying on the couch - sensor is behind the couch on top of a cabinet.

I've always treated it like it was regardless..

usb powered, comes with a nice long cord and charger.

No dropoffs so far but my oldest device in our powder room has only been installed since mid August.

Additional Notes:

  • If looking to use for motion activated lighting I would recommend using in conjunction with a traditional motion sensor as the FP1 is a bit slow for the initial detection. I use the motion sensor for a fast "hit" in order to turn my lights "on" and then the FP1 for the "inactive" in order to turn lights "off". After testing the sensor seems plenty fast... thanks to @cnelson.sc for mentioning it in another thread...
  • Can install via the Hubitat Package Manager. Use @kkossev's excellent "Aqara P1 Motion Sensor" driver. (yes P1 not F1)
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Excellent, thank you for the replies.
The fact it's usb powered limits my usage a bit because I would have to find a socket for it, I prefer batteries.

So 2 things...

Devices like the FP1 (and hopefully others at some point) are really the way to go for interior motion lighting. I just wish it were less expensive.

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Only if the device/sdk provides enough tuning options... And the mounting point/stability of mounting point is chosen quite carefully. You need to be able to block areas, specify detection angle, adjust sensitivity, etc otherwise ceiling fans, oscilating fans, and pets set them off constantly.

I have 4 different brands/styles of mmwave motion sensors now (including the Aqara FP1) and I think they are way more trouble than they are worth in terms of tweaking them to avoid false positives.

And even then, my cats still set them off regularly, while the PIR ones are very effective at ignoring the cats.

But as always - everyone's experience, installation, and situation differs.

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Good point - but you can have similar issues with PIR detectors as well right? Though the tech seems a bit more mature with pet smart types available etc.

Sure - no solution is perfect for all installs. For me PIR works better in the main area of my house where the cats are (zero false positives - like ever). But of course PIR doesn't support stationary presence detection, etc. Always tradeoffs.

The mmwave work really well in areas my pets don't go, as long as I get the angle, position, mounting, and sensitivity right. Even in those areas it is definitely not a 'set it and forget it' solution like PIR usually is.

One thing I learned is that (in my house anyway) they really need fixed mounts - not shelf or tabletop mounted. Otherwise the 1st time someone cleans and moves them around all of your blocking/angle work is thrown out the window.

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Interesting points, thanks..

In our house, no pets (wife's allergic to cats, and "allergic" to whatever my daughter is temporarily fixated on) so am free to let the FP1 do it's thing.

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I have only had my FP1 sensors for less than a week but I really like them. Ordered 4 more.
They have a shorter range and a narrower beam vs a regular motion sensor.
The range (20 feet) is much less than a regular motion sensor. Which is good and bad but fine for most rooms.
Love that they are usb powered (hate batteries).
Like that they have a magnetic base as well, very handy.

I am using one in my garage (3 car) but one is not enough (will need 2-3). It is nice with the limited range with the sensor pointing out to the street and the garage door open it does not detect the traffic or people walking on the side walk.
I was using 5 regular motion sensors in combination in the garage.
The GE jasco motion light switch mounted on my house facing out to the street even on the lowest setting with the garage door open would still detect movement on the street.
So these FP1's are a perfect range.

Wish I did but no pets so can't say (my wife's allergic as well). Some days tough choice between keeping her or getting a dog :wink: .

Only negatives are price, narrow beam, (long shipping times).

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One odd thing that happened to me was I when I tried pairing to one hub a few inches away both of my FP1 devices would get stuck on found zigbee device but never complete. But I could pair fine to my other hub 1 floor down and on the opposite side of the house. Both hubs are using the same zigbee channel.

Will try pairing farther away to the this hub when my other FP1's arrive.

Why use the same Zigbee channel? I am messing around with Home Assistant / Zigbee2MQTT and Sonoff ZB3 stick which is in my basement but my main Zigbee hub is a C5 on our first floor. Purposefully kept both on different channels. I'd be worried about possible contention/interference?

I did have one issue where I was trying to pair a Zigbee device and it kept not pairing until I eventually realized it had auto paired with HA instead of HE... :man_facepalming:

no real reason past testing I had found channel 20 worked best overall for my other devices an I had not seen any issues.
But your right I should move each of my hubs to different zigbee channels as I am running 3 hubs (one per floor).

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I just installed an FP1 in the bedroom. I see this keep coming up in the logs "motion reset to inactive afger X seconds (digital)" 6122 seconds being the longest one so far. I'm curious, is this the driver setting it to inactive or is the device doing it? This is during times when room is actually occupied

This is not the normal behaviour… Can you send me in a PM some screenshots of the Preferences and the Data sections of the device page?

@bendarklighter Did you manage to get your FP1 working?

Yea its working alright with the driver thanks. I guess its just not detecting a person sleeping very well thats all, so I would not rely on that.