Any idea what’s happening here @bravenel ?
For Means to Turn Off use 'Motion stays inactive', not 'Motion becomes inactive'.
The 'becomes' one should turn off when any one of the motion sensors become inactive. With 'stays' they must all become inactive. 0 minutes can be selected if desired.
That's good to know and not obvious. Maybe add an any/all option? 
I've found the cleanest way to manage multiple sensors is the Zone Motion Controller app.
2 Likes
Yes that's my go-to for managing multiple sensors that I want to be an ALL.
I do wish these differences were more obvious in the UI. It takes a lot of note taking to keep up with this app.
2 Likes
Totally unnecessary.
You're just piling logic on top of logic.
Well, one offers an amount of time and says "Motion stays inactive" and the other does not offer a time input and only says "Motion inactive". Those are pretty obvious differences in the UI. Probably it should be better documented as well, although no one really reads the documentation.
I'll add the words ALL and ANY to these, and the corresponding ones for contact sensors, since we have existence proof that what it says is not obvious enough.
2 Likes
The purpose of Zone Motion Controller is to deal with False Motion Reduction. The other two options were added for completeness. However, Motion Aggregation and Triggered Activation functions of ZMC are entirely redundant to the corresponding functions in every built-in app that deals with motion sensors. Unless you need False Motion Reduction, using Zone Motion Controller makes all of your motion driven automations less efficient, adding extra time to triggers, and adds an extra unnecessary app. There's no magic here.
I should add that Zone Motion Controller came into existence for outdoor applications of motion sensors, where false positives become a distinct possibility. There's a price to be paid for eliminating false positives though. So unless you are certain that Zone Motion Controller solves a specific outdoor motion problem, it probably isn't the right choice for every day motion use in Apps.
All of the apps apply the exact same logic. If looking for the All Inactive condition, each sensor going inactive causes all of the sensors to be examined. Only when the last one goes inactive does the condition of All Inactive become true. Any sensor going active in the interim, prevents the All Inactive condition from being achieved.
1 Like
Now you tell us, as he quickly redoes his motion rules. 
2 Likes
Which was where I started using it... I was getting too many false positives out in our front yard, which it fixed.
I started using it inside as it allowed me to create groups of sensors that I could then use in multiple automations, and then over time I just feel into the habit of using it for everything. 
I've never noticed a penalty from using zones, my lights go on very promptly. But I've never compared and your info makes me interested to test without using zones.
Definitely did not know this, thanks for the details, very helpful.
1 Like
@jameslslate - FWIW I had some time to kill today waiting for my wife to be ready to head out to run some errands (which she has since cancelled and is taking a nap.
I tested motion lighting in my utility room, which uses three Iris sensors, two v2, and one v3. Tested using a zone vs the sensors added separately in RL, several tests.
TL;DR - any difference between zone vs individual sensors was in terms of ms and not noticeable in actual use. It was actually nice to see that Hubitat is robust enough to perform well even when configured incorrectly, at least in the context I was testing. 
Based on advice I did change that RL automation to individual sensors as I don't use the motion sensors in that room in any other automations any more, so there is no efficiency gained by having them in a zone together to add to multiple automations. Not expecting to see any significant difference, but I feel better about it.
2 Likes
Thanks @bravenel … I have a lot of work to do in rewriting my rules I’ve already setup. I’m sure I’ll have more questions but I have to take a break from HE for a few days to focus on bringing a new aquarium online and ripping out a shower for a new bathroom Reno upcoming. Over the next week I’ll get back to all this… I still need to take a look at my node red config for injecting my He data into influxdb and the rewriting all my grafana dashboards. Plus I have a 2nd iotawatt on its way. I’m busier then a two peckered rabbit! And my wife wonders why I never come to bed until 4am!
This topic was automatically closed 365 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.
