Thread: Anybody Got Tips for PIR Triggers?

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I just bought my first prop controller (Picoboo AC with a passive infrared (PIR) trigger and I think I'm hooked. Super cool.

However, I'm playing around with it and the PIR trigger is really tempermental. Sometimes I walk by and it goes off and other times I walk by and it doesn't. Some random observations:

-- It seems to trigger when you leave its field of vision and not when you come into it. I guess that means you have to put it further down the path from where people will come.

-- It seems more likely to trigger when you walk by it it one direction than the other. Seems technically impossible but that is my observation. And this is when walking perpendicular to the unit so in theory it shouldn't be happening.

Does anybody have tips for me or tricks that they use?

1) Does putting electrical tape around the sensor panel make it more reliable to go off when somebody walks by its restricted field of view?

2) Is it better to aim it at people's feet or at their mid-section? From the bottom upward or from the ceiling downward?

3) Should it be upright (led light on the bottom) or is it ok to be on its side (led unit on the side)?

I usually use electrical tape to make the field more "direct". I also put them behind a wall with a small drilled out hole so it acts more like a beam sensor.

Some of them have an adjuster inside them to make the visable area wider or smaller. Also the sensitivity can be adjusted, some even have a weight switch to detect things above say 30lb to reduce false triggers.

I use a short piece of pvc pipe about the length of a toilet paper tube and slip it over the PIR sensor. I think its 1-1/2 " works very well to focus the field of view. Also it depend on the type of PIR you're using if you just hacked a motion sensor light you will have issues they are very tempermental.

Are you letting it warm up? My Picos need almost 90 seconds before they detect accurately. What is your test environment? If you're in a hot room it won't work well in detecting a warm object. I also sleeve my PIRs. I use a 3" diameter PVC drain cap and about 4" of tube length.