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Show HN: Tommy – Turn ESP32 devices into through-wall motion sensors

tommysense.com

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Re: Show HN: Tommy – Turn ESP32 devices into through-wall motion sensors

#21

Post by mike2872 »

snovv_crash wrote: post #17
mike2872 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks! Glad you like it. Honestly, it doesn't stand for anything! A couple years ago I was playing around with the concept and a song came on that mentioned "Tommy" repeatedly. I jokingly started calling it Tommy when talking to my girlfriend about it. So every time the lights turned on or off it was "Tommy who did it" and the name just stuck. Now I'm too invested to change it. There's a dedicated thread on the Disc…

I'm guessing that it was Tommy can you hear me? by The Who.

Great guess! But it was actually a song called Tommy from an artist called Walker.

Re: Show HN: Tommy – Turn ESP32 devices into through-wall motion sensors

#24

Post by teekert »

michaelmior wrote: post #3

> No hub required - TOMMY runs as a Home Assistant add-on or on a Linux host (Docker) and uses supporting devices to create a sensing network. I don't see how either the HA instance or the Linux host can't be viewed as a hub. No hub required feels untrue to me. I assume this question is intended to clarify that some additional device is not necessary, but I think this could be reworded.

OTOH, when you buy any Bosch, IKEA, Hue, Aqara device, it says on the box: Hub required (and they do mean get our hub and place next to all other hubs. Even though Home Assistant will usually work fine-ok).

So I see where he’s coming from, and I interpreted it as intended.

Re: Show HN: Tommy – Turn ESP32 devices into through-wall motion sensors

#26

Post by mike2872 »

stavros wrote: post #22

This seems really cool, but unfortunately I can't get it to work. The flasher says it can't open the serial port for most of my ESP32s, and the one that does work goes into a bootloop after I enter the wifi credentials.

Could you open a support thread in the Discord channel? Some boards have some quicks to them. But it's all been solved by other users before. I'm sure there's a solution to your board too.

Re: Show HN: Tommy – Turn ESP32 devices into through-wall motion sensors

#27

Post by mike2872 »

gingerlime wrote: post #25

Very cool. How does it work in an apartment building? both practically not detecting my neighbors movement. But also from a privacy standpoint, can someone spy on me with this technology?

Great questions.

Neighbor detection: I haven't had issues with neighbor movement affecting detection in my testing. The devices form a mesh within your defined zone, so they're primarily sensing disruptions between your own nodes. If you do experience false positives, there's a sensitivity adjustment in the dashboard.

Privacy/spying: In TOMMY, I've explicitly disabled the ability to use devices outside your own network - it only works with ESP32s you've flashed and added to your system. Someone would need physical access to place their own devices in your space.

That said, Wi-Fi sensing as a broader technology could theoretically be used for surveillance if someone controlled devices on both sides of your walls. It's similar to other wireless technologies in that regard. The key is controlling your own hardware.

Re: Show HN: Tommy – Turn ESP32 devices into through-wall motion sensors

#28

Post by mike2872 »

tetris11 wrote: post #23

Really cool idea, and scratches an itch I have with current motion detection sensors (looking at you LD2410...) What's the configuration/calibration like? Do I need to set any proximity baselines?

No calibration is needed for the motion sensing. You can adjust sensitivity in the dashboard if you get false positives though.

In the future, when I add stationary presence detection, there is a good chance a small calibration will be needed.

Re: Show HN: Tommy – Turn ESP32 devices into through-wall motion sensors

#30

Post by stavros »

mike2872 wrote: post #26
stavros wrote: post #22

This seems really cool, but unfortunately I can't get it to work. The flasher says it can't open the serial port for most of my ESP32s, and the one that does work goes into a bootloop after I enter the wifi credentials.

Could you open a support thread in the Discord channel? Some boards have some quicks to them. But it's all been solved by other users before. I'm sure there's a solution to your board too.

I did, even though I really hate Discord forums (they have the worst of both worlds between forums and chat, they aren't real-time and they aren't discoverable on the web, but that's a different conversation).

Hopefully someone will be able to help, thanks!

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