Xiaomi motion sensor hack

๐Ÿ’ฌ Lounge
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This hardware hack reposted by @veeceeoh changes the Xiaomi motion sensor hardware response time from 60 seconds between the end of the last motion event, to 5 seconds.

I tried it and it works exactly as described.

motion active Detected motion DEVICE 2019-03-08 05:22:22.113 PM EST
lastMotion 1552083742020 DEVICE 2019-03-08 05:22:22.020 PM EST
lastCheckin 1552083741907 DEVICE 2019-03-08 05:22:21.907 PM EST
motion active Detected motion DEVICE 2019-03-08 05:22:16.308 PM EST
lastMotion 1552083736295 DEVICE 2019-03-08 05:22:16.295 PM EST
lastCheckin 1552083736258 DEVICE 2019-03-08 05:22:16.258 PM EST
motion active Detected motion DEVICE 2019-03-08 05:22:11.053 PM EST
lastMotion 1552083731025 DEVICE 2019-03-08 05:22:11.025 PM EST
lastCheckin 1552083730948 DEVICE 2019-03-08 05:22:10.948 PM EST
motion active Detected motion DEVICE 2019-03-08 05:22:05.923 PM EST

I posted some notes to help anyone that wants to do the same hack, but my original post is under a thread about Hue Motion sensors that eventually mutated to a discussion about Xiaomi motion sensors. So I just wanted to post with Xiaomi in the title for anyone with Xiaomi Aqara motion sensors that wants to try this.

6 Likes
2

I suppose this is for Xiaomi, not Aqara, correct?
Thanks

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Aqara is a line of Xiaomi smart home product. My sensors are all the Aqara line.

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I know, but I thought the picture was from an older model. Thanks

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Oh, sorry misunderstood. No they're not older. At least I don't think they are. All the boxes I received said Aqara on them. Mine are identical to the one in the ST post that @veeceeoh reposted here.

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Here's the direct link to the post with the video of him disassembling the sensor. Use Google Translate if your Korean is a little rusty :wink:

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7

Thanks!!

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Just noticed this in his post, which I missed before.

"This method is valid for both the original version of Xiaomi motion and the version of Aqara. In my case, I have modified 4 Xiaomi original versions and 4 Aqara versions and it works without any problems."

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Yes, I just read all the korean post, question for you, will this impact the battery duration? Not sure if you been long time with this mod.

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I just did it today. He says in the ST forum that it has not had a noticeable effect after a year of use. I'm going to run the one I modded for a while and see if there's a change before I mod the others. My intention for the one I modded today is to run it off a 3v supply, so I'm not concerned with power drain for this particular one.

I wouldn't want the battery life to be shortened on my other Xiaomi sensors though. I'll probably leave it from now until I get back from Oregon in mid April. If it's the same, then I'll go ahead and mod the others. If there's significant battery drain after 6 months, I may remove it. The good thing is, it's even easier to remove the modification.

Oh, and there's a warning from @JDRoberts too. Something to consider.

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11

Thanks for the info, a year sounds good, I will try with one tomorrow.

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I don't believe people need a so sensitive motion sensor.
Ideally a 30secs would be ideally but I can't think of any use case where I use a 5sec motion sensor.

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Thatโ€™s not an option with this sensor though. So Iโ€™ll take 5sec over 60sec personally.

I do have a very good use for the faster reset time. Going to use this at my front door to alert me and record video. This will allow me to trick Wyze into giving me several 12 second clips per event, instead of just one.

Iโ€™ll use Rule Machine to control the notification part, so I wonโ€™t get more than one per event.

1 Like
14

Excellent example, I just installed a Wyze cam in my front porch to help the ring doorbell. Could you add a little more info how to trick the wyze? IFTTT?

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I did the mod in 5 minutes, pretty easy

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20190309_133850.jpg2182ร—1881 2.45 MB

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20190309_133829.jpg2764ร—1908 3.16 MB

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20190309_133816.jpg2544ร—1908 1.84 MB

20190309_135355
20190309_135355.jpg1728ร—1714 2.07 MB

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Yes, IFTTT. Right now I am getting a clip from the Wyze cam itself, and then when somebody presses my doorbell, I get another video clip. And if they press it again, I get another.

Not perfect, and there are some IFTTT delays. However it seems to be fast enough to do the job most of the time. Havenโ€™t put it into service yet, so maybe itโ€™s not going to work like I think, but it should be based on my experience with the doorbell.

1 Like
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Thanks, I saw in the events that the motion sent the active state every 5 seconds but the inactive state still sent at 60 seconds, maybe using a triggered rule still works.

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Still need to play with that part myself. Let me know what you learn.

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I just created a triggered rule to test but unfortunately it will not trigger the rule again until the motion inactive state is sent at 60 seconds.
what other scenario can I do to test it?

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Did you try setting a five second inactive timeout in the device details?

{Edit]
Just got back from a client's office. Tried that and it works. So @Somel, there's your answer for a custom timeout. You can adjust the settings in the device driver to be between 5 seconds and whatever you want. So if you enter 30 seconds, unlike before where it didn't actually go active again for 61 seconds, it will now go inactive in 30 seconds if that's what you enter in the driver and then immediately go active again when motion is detected.