Teensy Human Motion and Presence Alarm Tutorial

Introduction

This project was made in collaboration with Jeremy Cook for SparkFun Electronics.

We’re all familiar with the tried-and-true motion sensor units that turn on security lights and darken the office when no one is there and moving about. But what if you’re in the office, dutifully performing a largely sedentary job (e.g., writing an article about motion sensors)? Typical motion sensors sense… motion, as the name implies, but not human presence (which is often what you really want).

If you want a sensor that detects motion and stationary humans, the STHS34PF80 from ST Microelectronics is designed to do both. The Human Presence and Motion Sensor from SparkFun (available in both 1 x 1 inch full-sized and .5 x 1 inch mini version) breaks this chip out on a printed circuit board (PCB) for easy integration into custom projects.

This post will outline a simple human detector/alarm that you can create with this breakout, plus a handful of other parts, in under an hour. You can use it as is, or as a building block/testing setup for other projects. More resources, including SparkFun’s Hookup Guide, are linked at the end of this article.