topic Re: Top down/vertical placement and motion detection in Arlo

Top down/vertical placement and motion detection

king_tut — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 07:33:37 GMT

Hi all,

I'm considering buying a couple of Arlo 3/4 for a specific purpose, but would love some feedback on whether they'll work first. I'm renting, so cannot install anything with screws etc. Live on 2nd floor (3rd floor in American), and have balcony over the top of a parking space where I'll have a motorbike. I can place an Arlo on the ground floor, facing where the bike will be, but inside a window.

My understanding is that the IR movement sensor won't work behind glass. Furthermore, where I live, there would be a load of false positive triggers from a low-down/horizontal placement. So what I'm thinking is to have one Arlo pretty-much directly above the bike, looking down, with motion detection on, and with IR illumination if needed (I can screw it into some wood, which I'll 'hang' from the balcony). And then when it detects movement, to trigger the second Arlo, around head height, pointing at the motorbike to capture a better view of the miscreants faces etc.

My main question is:
- While IR sensing doesn't work through glass, does the night vision camera work okay?
- Can the top down camera/IR sensor motion detect people walking through the field of view - noting that they won't be as large as a normal person, as it will be looking down from above?

Cheers!

Re: Top down/vertical placement and motion detection

jguerdat — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 13:02:53 GMT

The general strategy seems good but testing would be needed to get the best results. You could also consider a Q or Essential indoor camera since those use pixel-change detection which works through glass. Be sure to turn off night vision so the IR LEDs don't blind the camera with glare off the glass. Of course, you would have to work on motion sensitivity and maybe zones to reduce unwanted triggers.

As for people detection, that still depends on the distance, motion sensitivity setting and direction of movement. You might need to test to get the best positioning of the camera (rotate it for best detection).

Re: Top down/vertical placement and motion detection

TomMac — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 13:12:46 GMT

Also keep in mind that the PIR detectors max out at about 25 ft for people....

The pixel detection work to approx 3x that but will more than likely need enough external lighting.