HomeKit Upgrade

[Mike.]

Hi,

 

Over the past few years I've been adding smart devices to my home and thought it might be a fun project to upgrade my intruder alarm by making the PIR sensors visible in HomeKit on iOS. This would allow for automations such as custom trigger events that would flash the lights red and having Alexa hurl abuse at intruders, and perhaps play death metal through my AVR on volume 10. (Other intruder deterrent reccommendations welcome.)

 

I have already registered some virtual motion sensors which are visible in the Home app, and programmed a microcontroller to send messages over my local network (through WiFi) that can change the state of the virtual sensors. All I need to do now is hook up the GPIO pins on the microcontroller to the PIR sensors so that I can send the appropriate network request when the PIR detects motion.

 

My alarm system is an Intellisense 800L. I have opened the control panel, I can see the PIR sensor pairs, (blue & yellow wires) but I'm not sure what voltage I'm working with here and exactly what happens when PIR detects motion? Ideally, I need a 3.3v signal so may have to add a voltage regulator to my board and perhaps some kind of isolation to protect the microcontroller.

 

Any general advice would be appreciated, cheers.

 

 

[al-yeti]

30 minutes ago, Mike. said:

Hi,

 

Over the past few years I've been adding smart devices to my home and thought it might be a fun project to upgrade my intruder alarm by making the PIR sensors visible in HomeKit on iOS. This would allow for automations such as custom trigger events that would flash the lights red and having Alexa hurl abuse at intruders, and perhaps play death metal through my AVR on volume 10. (Other intruder deterrent reccommendations welcome.)

 

I have already registered some virtual motion sensors which are visible in the Home app, and programmed a microcontroller to send messages over my local network (through WiFi) that can change the state of the virtual sensors. All I need to do now is hook up the GPIO pins on the microcontroller to the PIR sensors so that I can send the appropriate network request when the PIR detects motion.

 

My alarm system is an Intellisense 800L. I have opened the control panel, I can see the PIR sensor pairs, (blue & yellow wires) but I'm not sure what voltage I'm working with here and exactly what happens when PIR detects motion? Ideally, I need a 3.3v signal so may have to add a voltage regulator to my board and perhaps some kind of isolation to protect the microcontroller.

 

Any general advice would be appreciated, cheers.

 

 

So your trying to get the alarm to stay working and also get a signal from the pirs to your ha?

 

Short cut meesed up way of doing it , however ,  you need to upgrade to an alarm that is capable 

 

 

Why don't you just fit the pirs available for your ha , and keep the intruder separate ?

[james.wilson]

Don't use home kit but I integrate with home assistant. Easiest way is to upgrade as its an 800l it's getting on. 

Alternatively I'm guessing the voltage on the zone inputs is 5v. You may be able to pick that up into gpio or use trans relays. 

Alarms should be kept seperate Imo from automation but the sensor info and armed status is great for presence detection 

[MrHappy]

1 hour ago, Mike. said:

Any general advice would be appreciated, cheers.

 

Your HA "alarm" won't work without internet or power so its not really an alarm.

 

A big bag of relay will bodges your 800l onto your HA

 

However a more commercial alarm panel & a bag of relay is probably a better starting point 

[PeterJames]

As above there are no benefits using your existing dated system.

 

However, you can buy HA motion detectors to do what you need and they will work flawlessly.

 

I have a decent alarm system with input output units coming of my alarm system controlling lights for courtesy, to make sure all lights are off when the system is fully or part armed, and of course to switch on lights in sequences when the system goes into alarm to give the appearance that someone is at home.

 

I do it this way because I know the limitations of my alarm, but its not the way I would recommend a diyer or an experienced HA'er should do it, most experienced HA guys would laugh at the way Ive done it 

[Mike.]

On 01/01/2022 at 12:54, al-yeti said:

So your trying to get the alarm to stay working and also get a signal from the pirs to your ha?

 

Yes, this is exactly what I'm trying to do.

 

On 01/01/2022 at 12:54, al-yeti said:

Short cut meesed up way of doing it , however ,  you need to upgrade to an alarm that is capable

 

Forgive my ignorance, but why? The PIRs are in perfect working order, despite the alarm not being smarthome friendly, why not use utilise the existing infrastructure?

 

On 01/01/2022 at 12:54, al-yeti said:

Why don't you just fit the pirs available for your ha , and keep the intruder separate ?

 

Because I'm an electronics hobbysist trying to improve my knowledge by engaging in practical applications; I find this is the best way to learn. I do actually own some Phillips Hue Motion Sensors, which are great, but rather than buy more I thought it would be a good excercise to save money and learn a little.

[Mike.]

On 01/01/2022 at 13:16, james.wilson said:

Don't use home kit but I integrate with home assistant. Easiest way is to upgrade as its an 800l it's getting on. 

Alternatively I'm guessing the voltage on the zone inputs is 5v. You may be able to pick that up into gpio or use trans relays. 

Alarms should be kept seperate Imo from automation but the sensor info and armed status is great for presence detection 

 

I agree that the current alarm system is old and in need of an upgrade, however that option is not available to me at the moment, hence the D.I.Y "upgrade".

Thanks for the advise, but I think 5v might damage my board given that it operates on 3.3v. I've done a little research and figured that a simple voltage regulator might be a good solution. I'd like to confirm the input voltage however before purchasing anything. I couldn't find a data sheet or schematics for the 800L - I'm guessing 5v is common for alarm systems?

The 800L is rarely used as it is; we're too lazy to set it and would much prefer having the ability to control via smartphone and/or other automated triggers, such as when all occupants have vacated the premises, which is exactly what HomeKit offers. Essentially this project will replace the brains of our alarm, using existing PIR sensors.

 

[Mike.]

On 01/01/2022 at 14:10, MrHappy said:

 

Your HA "alarm" won't work without internet or power so its not really an alarm.

 

A big bag of relay will bodges your 800l onto your HA

 

However a more commercial alarm panel & a bag of relay is probably a better starting point 

 

Correct, it will not. But neither will my current alarm because we often forget to set it! Some interesting considerations however. Perhaps I could add a backup battery to my board with low voltage detection, in addition I could add GSM module if the WiFi is offline.

 

Is there any reason for using a relay instead of a voltage regulator? The voltage coming from PIR is just a signal right? It's not powering anything as such so would imagine there's minimal current?

 

A more commercial alarm panel would be much more suitable, however that option is not available to me, I would be happy with a DIY upgrade.

 

 

[sixwheeledbeast]

Sound like a mess of a way to do it.

If your too lazy to set it then HA isn't going to help much occupancy arming is flawed but I suppose you have little concern for security anyway if that's the issue. Waste of time IMO to be frank.

 

As for the actual question you would have to interface with relays if your keeping the existing system or just bin the control panel off completely and have 12 volt supply for sensors and then closed loops from the pirs for status GPIO.

It's no longer a security system with the latter option, all the security built in to a tradition alarm would be removed and simple to bypass for a burglar.

[Mike.]

On 01/01/2022 at 16:01, PeterJames said:

As above there are no benefits using your existing dated system.

 

However, you can buy HA motion detectors to do what you need and they will work flawlessly.

 

I have a decent alarm system with input output units coming of my alarm system controlling lights for courtesy, to make sure all lights are off when the system is fully or part armed, and of course to switch on lights in sequences when the system goes into alarm to give the appearance that someone is at home.

 

I do it this way because I know the limitations of my alarm, but its not the way I would recommend a diyer or an experienced HA'er should do it, most experienced HA guys would laugh at the way Ive done it 

 

Yes, I do have some Phillips Hue Motion sensors, which work fine. But I would like a little more coverage and rather than buy more I figured I could use my existing PIR sensors

 

I'm sure experienced HA folk would also laugh at my intentions, but I fret not, as yet I cannot see any reason why tapping into the infrastructure from existing alarm panels is a bad idea. Your setup sounds quite similar to what I'm trying to achieve.