Arlo Essential Pan Tilt Security Camera not following movement of pets

[archieab]

I just purchased this camera a few weeks ago and it does not follow the movement of my pets. I've tried it at multiple heights (ie, counter, top of litter box, and on floor) and it will not move until it picks up my movement. With me it moves up, down, right, left. I've updated firmware, tried different locations in the room and it only stays forward looking even when a pet is literally moving right in front of it 1-3 feet away in multiple directions. Mine is not mounted on wall or ceiling. Anyone else have this issue?

[StephenB]

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@archieab wrote:

I just purchased this camera a few weeks ago and it does not follow the movement of my pets. I've tried it at multiple heights (ie, counter, top of litter box, and on floor) and it will not move until it picks up my movement. 

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What motion sensitivity are you using?

What animals?  (guessing cats, but would be good to know for sure)?

[archieab]

Hi thank you for responding. Motion detection is at default of 50% and I have both cats and a dog. It picks them up if they are right in front of it but it doesn't turn or go up and down to follow them. 

[jguerdat]

Try increasing motion sensitivity in each camera's settings under Default Mode Settings for testing.

[archieab]

Thank you, I just increased it to 75% and also did a motor calibration so I'll see how that works. 

[archieab]

OK, I have completely removed it and added it back to my app and moved it from my 2.4 to the 5gh wifi. I increased the sensitivity to 75 and 100% before and after I moved the wifi. It still isn't moving when pets move by it. I have it on the floor and I also moved it up about 2 feet to see if it made a difference and it didn't. I've even enabled dog bark in audio settings. It only moves to follow me as if it only picks up something when it's larger and taller. One thing did change after this is it says animal detected vs. always saying person detected. Very frustrating. Any other suggestions please?

PS - it is not facing any windows or anything else reflective.

[StephenB]

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@archieab wrote:

It still isn't moving when pets move by it. 

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Is it recording?

Also, it sounds like the camera is inverted (with the invert video feature turned on).   If that is the case, one disadvantage is that the camera is more sensitive to motion at the bottom of the field of view than it is at the top.  When inverted, that changes to being more sensitive at the top. 

So if it is inverted, you might try changing that and see if it makes a difference.  (I realize that can be easier said than done).

[archieab]

Hi, yes it is recording with no problems. Video settings are at default - "Rotate image 180 degrees" is turned off. Auto track is turned on. Zones is at default which has the entire view of camera covered. Camera positions is at default. It just doesn't turn when pets move and they are a variety of sizes - my cats are chonks lol and my dog is medium sized so that shouldn't be an issue.

[RichWood]

My outdoor one I have aimed and positioned perfectly for field of view, yet that was missing motion initially. You have to then play around with the camera home position in device settings to get it just right. And what you think would be ideal usually isn't. I was missing obvious motion outside, including outdoor cats, until I messed with that setting for like 30 minutes trying each angle. Now I got it set just right and don't miss a thing. Also change recording to a fixed length and raise that over 45 seconds. That helped too. 

[archieab]

The Rotate Image 180 is not enabled if that is what you mean.

[archieab]

I will try that, thank you.

[RichWood]

Look for Camera Positions. Then adjust the Camera Home Position. You will get a joystick in the app to adjust. I have the outdoor version and it's a joystick that can adjust the exact camera position. I had to play around with that to get the motion tracking just right. 

[JamesC]

If the animals you're trying to track are smaller, the camera may be having difficulty detecting them. The development team is currently working on some improvements that should help with tracking smaller animals. We expect these enhancements to be made available in the near future.

JamesC