Configuration

Before the Fine Motion Room Sensor can be used in any applications, it must first be assigned to a register.

Installation of the Fine Motion Room Sensor and Bluetooth Receiver is described here.
Note because the Fine Motion Room Sensor is a wireless connection to the Vector (via its plug in USB adapter), as part of the pairing/configuration process, any Room sensor in range will be selectable. To ensure that the right Fine Motion Room Sensor is paired with the right Vector, you should therefore either install and power on one Fine Motion Room Sensor at a time, or you make a note of each ones MAC address.

The Fine Motion Room Sensor has its MAC address shown on a label inside the device if required:

To configure the associated register, go to ‘Settings’, then the ‘Counting’ tab to access the main counting functionality.

By default, a Vector will have two counting lines configured, as shown in the Register dialog list below. If the registers dialog is not shown, click the ‘Registers’ button in the top right:

If connected to a Vector via an Estate Manager connection, make sure you select the ‘Live View’ option to make changes.

On the register dialog, click the plus symbol (+), then scroll down through the list of available register and choose the ‘Fine Motion Room Sensor PIR’ register type, and click ‘Next’:

Enter a suitable (unused) name for the new register, and click ‘Next’:

Now click the Devices dropdown and any in range Room sensors will be listed.

Select the correct Room Sensor and then click ‘Next’:

Lastly click the ‘Add Register’ button to finish.

The new Fine Motion Room Sensor register will then be shown on the registers dialog.

Note that if the Fine Motion Room sensor has been powered up for some time, it may have already accumulated some activity counts recorded. This is normal and to be expected.

 

Multiple Fine Motion Room Sensors

There can be up to four Fine Motion Room Sensors connected to a single Vector/USB Bluetooth receiver. Configuration of this relies on each sensor being associated with its own register, as shown here with two Fine Motion Room Sensors:

 

Primary Usage

The primary use case of the Fine Motion Room Sensor is as a feed into an Occupancy type register.

An Occupancy register performs a simple IN minus OUT calculation to derive an occupancy count value, and a configurable period of no activity received from the Room Sensor can be used as a signal that the area is definitely empty, and the occupancy value can be reset to zero – if required. This will correct any IN-count bias and prevents a cumulative error from building up, which could be possible in some cases, even when the IN and OUT accuracies are very similar.

 

Simple Data Access

If you want to use the Fine Motion Room Sensor data directly in your own software, the data is logged and available in exactly the same way as any of the other register types.

Note that this register will simply increment continual as movement is detected, and so its usage outside of an occupancy register would need an element of timing added in order to make the register relevant - i.e. how long has there been activity, or how long has there been no activity.

The following data access methods are available:

  • REST API. Software written using the REST API will allow you to pull the periodically logged count data. Shortest log period is one-minute intervals, default is 15 minutes. The REST API can be used to pull data directly from device or from Estate Manager if available.
  • HTTP Post. This is where the Vector actively sends the logged data without software having to request it.
  • MQTT. This is also where the Vector actively sends data, but MQTT is designed for real-time data and instead of sending the logged count data it will send the values as they change. This means you get data within 1-2 seconds of the change occurring. Note that because the Fine Motion Room Sensor register can increase rapidly and consistently as and when people are detected, this can cause a lot of MQTT messages to be generated. An MQTT ‘broker’ is required.
  • BACnet. For pulling the data into a BACnet controller.
  • For completeness, there are also relay outputs when the optional USB-IO module is connected. If you want to output the PIR count increments via relay pulses, a USB hub will be required so that both USB devices can be connected to the Vector at the same time. Using relays to output the PIR increments is not recommended due to the number of counts increments that could be generated during periods of activity in the room.