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Vibration Sensor - false positives?

Hello all

I am using my Twine to, among other things, detect vibrations in a vacation cottage so that we will know if someone has broken in.  We have it on top of the base for a TV in the corner of a room, on the theory that a bad guy will at least move it as he goes for other things.

Problem is, we've been getting false positives.  We received one a few days ago (coincidentally, the same day we were to arrive for the weekend), and then two more today (I suppose these theoretically could be actual moves, but...).  The sensor is set at 2500 milli-gs now (it was lower last time when we got the first hit).  

Anyone with experience with this problem?  

Thanks

Best Answer

  • 6 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • Hi James, 

    The false positives are a result of the ARM resetting itself, so the sensors temporarily won't have a value. When they have a value again, it will trigger some of the rules (depending on the conditions). It shouldn't happen often (mostly when rules and updates save), but if the batteries are low, it can cause the ARM to reset more often.

Answers

  • you are foolish to use this toy to monitor anything critical. The message sent for all sensors are not consistent. Start by monitoring your home temperature and see how inconsistent. than you will see how simple temp.  is not working.
    good luck
  • I do always appreciate being called foolish, so thanks for that.  Suffice to say, this is not the only system we have in place to detect and prevent intruders but I wanted to add this as an experiment as much as anything. 

    Thanks for the info on messages being inconsistent, but can anyone speak to the specific problem of false positives?  I haven't seen much in the forums about this, and am wondering if it's something to do with proximity to other devices (a TV,  game machine, DVD player, etc).  Something must be triggering the message, but I'm stumped as to what it is.  


  • Thanks very much, Christina

    If you happen to still be checking this thread and have any suggestions to adjust the conditions to remove the false positives but still trigger when the box is picked up or knocked over I'd appreciate them!

    Do you know how long the ARM takes to reset? 


  • The arm just takes a second or two to reset. Unfortunately, adjusting the conditions won't help now, but this is on our list of things to fix! 
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