The Driveway Detector

The purpose of this project is to detect motion in the driveway and alert the user inside the house.

BeginnerFull instructions provided3 hours533

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Particle Argon

Breadboard (generic)

Buzzer

USB-A to Micro-USB Cable

Jumper wires (generic)

PIR Sensor, 7 m

LED (generic)

Software apps and online services

Particle Build Web IDE

Google Sheets

Story

Background:

The purpose of our project is to give you a heads-up when a car pulls into your driveway. The project works by using motion sensors on either side of the driveway to detect motion. If either of the sensors detects motion they send a signal to the inside of the house to sound a buzzer and light a light to alert the homeowner that someone has arrived. Our project utilizes three particle argons, an LED light, two PIR motion sensors, and a buzzer.

How it Works:

Two argons are set up identically and are each connected to one of the PIR motion sensors and led lights. These Argons will be referenced as the "Detect" argons. To start with, the LED light is continuously lit, showing that the motion sensor is looking for movement. When either of the Detect Argons read movement through the motion sensor, it sends a signal to the cloud that motion has been detected and turns off the LED light and motion sensor.

"Detect" Argon - PIR motion sensor with LED light (1 of 2)

The third argon is connected to a buzzer and an LED light. This Argon will be referenced as the "Alert" Argon. When this Argon reads the signal sent by one of the Detect Argons, the Alert Argon sounds the buzzer in short bursts and flashes the LED light at the same frequency. When the flashes and buzzer are finished, the Alert Argon publishes code to the cloud informing the Detect Argons to re-light their LED and begin to wait for motion again.

"Alert" Argon - Buzzer and LED light

While the Argons are connected to the internet, a live stream of data is being collected and pooled into a Google Sheet. The plot of Motion vs Time is shown below, along with a link to the Google Sheet.

Buzzer On/Off vs. Time

Click here for the live google sheet.

YouTube Video

Code

const int buzzer = 3;
const int led = 5;
int count = 0;
void setup(){
    Particle.subscribe("Motion Sensor 1", motionFunction1); // Subscribes to the first motion sensor
    Particle.subscribe("Motion Sensor 2", motionFunction1); // Subscribes to the second motion sensor
    pinMode(buzzer, OUTPUT); // Sets the buzzer pin as an output
    pinMode(led, OUTPUT); // sets the led pin as an input
}

void motionFunction1(const char *event, const char *data)
{
    if ((strcmp(data,"Motion Detected 1")==0) || (strcmp(data,"Motion Detected 2")==0)) { // Determine if motion is detected
        Particle.publish("Buzzer", "On"); // Publishes that the buzzer is on
        count = 25;
        while (count > 0){ // Turn on buzzer and flash led
            digitalWrite(led, HIGH);
            tone(buzzer, 1700);
            delay(100);
            noTone(buzzer);
            digitalWrite(led, LOW);
            tone(buzzer, 1800);
            delay(100);
            noTone(buzzer);
            count = count -1;
        }
    }
    else if ((strcmp(data,"Standby 1")==0) || (strcmp(data,"Standby 2")==0)) { // Determine if the motion sensor is in standyby mode
    Particle.publish("Buzzer", "Off"); // Publishes that the buzzer is on
  }
}

void loop() {
    
}

const char *eventName = "Buzzer";
int On = 1;
int Off = 0;
int inputPin = D2;            
int ledPin = D7;                
int pirState = LOW;            
int val = 0;                   
int calibrateTime = 5000;      

void setup(){
    Particle.subscribe("Buzzer", buzzerFunction); // Subscribe to the argon with the buzzer
    pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT); // LED pin set as output
    pinMode(inputPin, INPUT); // PIR motion set as input
    digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH); // initially have LED on
}

void loop(){
  if (calibrated()){ // Check if PIR sensor is calibrated
      
    readTheSensor(); // If the sensor is calibrated then read the input
    
    reportTheData(); // And publish the status of the sensor
    }
}

void readTheSensor(){
    val = digitalRead(inputPin); // Read the input from the PIR
}

bool calibrated(){
    return millis() - calibrateTime > 0; // PIR calibration
}

void reportTheData(){ // Publishes the status of the PIR sensor
    if (val == HIGH){
        
        if (pirState == LOW) {
          Particle.publish("Motion Sensor 1", "Motion Detected 1");
          
          pirState = HIGH;
        }
        
    } 
    
    else {
        
        if (pirState == HIGH) {
          Particle.publish("Motion Sensor 1", "Standby 1");
          
          pirState = LOW;
        }
    }
}

void buzzerFunction(const char *event, const char *data){ // Reads the status of the buzzer and tells the LED to turn on or off
    if (strcmp(data,"Off")==0) {
        digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);
        publishOff();
    }
    else if (strcmp(data,"On")==0) {
        digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);
        publishOn();
    }
}

void publishOn() { // Publishes data to google sheets if buzzer is on
    char buf[128];

    snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "[%d]", On);

    Particle.publish(eventName, buf, PRIVATE);
    Log.info("published: %s", buf);
}  

void publishOff() { // Publishes data to google sheets if buzzer is off
    char buf[128];

    snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "[%d]", Off);

    Particle.publish(eventName, buf, PRIVATE);
    Log.info("published: %s", buf);
}

The Driveway Detector