“Build a motion and presence production counter using a Feather HUZZAH programmed with Arduino and powered by Ubidots.
Effective physical motion and presence detection in Smart Homes and Smart Manufacturing can be very useful in applications ranging from elderly Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) solutions or a Production Counting System that feeds a larger MES. Other applications for Motion and Presence Detection include but are not limited to:
Door and gate automationParking sensors to designate free spots Remote tank level monitoring Smart homes and facilities for lighting and securityUnits detection and counting in conveyor linesMark detection on printed materialsLiquid detection inside cardboard, plastic, and paper tiltsDistance detectionPeople counters
While there are many applications for presence and motion, there are equally as many sensors to collect data, such as capacitive, inductive, photoelectric, and ultrasonic sensors. Depending on the costs, environmental conditions, and accuracy requirements, one should select the best fitting hardware for an environment and application requirements.
For this tutorial, we will focus on building a real-time production counter; the application will count every unit passing by on a conveyor belt. We will be using the Arduino IDE to program a Feather HUZZAH ESP8266, an ultrasonic sensor, and Ubidots to develop our application and display our IoT dashboard.”