Arlo Smart Person/Animal/Vehicle Detection for SmartThings, IFTTT, Google Assistant, Alexa, etc.

[BSMO66]

One of the purposes of the Arlo Smart person detection is to filter out unwanted motion from trees and shadows to elimate many uwanted notifications.  This feature has worked well for me, but is missing the integration with my SmartThings hub and IFTTT.  I would like the same notification rules to follow through to my home automation products.  Right now I get only the person detection notifications I want, but any motion triggers events for home automation.  Please let me know how to integrate the new Arlo Smart features with your home automation partners.  As this is a premium/paid service, I hope this option will be available soon.

[Retired_Member]

Can someone confirm that his is working and if possible, link a HowTo document?

I purchased a complete Arlo system yesterday on the assumption that I could do this.  I haven't even purchased a home automation hub yet - triggering automation based on person detection is the 'killer app' that led me to choose Arlo over Eufy, despite the subscription charge for person detection.

Can I assume that Arlo -> IFTTT -> SmartThings is the simplest solution, at this time, for reliable automation using Z-wave or Zigbee devices triggered by Arlo's person detection?

[Retired_Member]

For the benefit of anyone considering a purchase and reading up on Arlo integration with Smartthings, I can confirm that 'person detection' notifications can be relayed to a SmartThings hub, as follows:

1: After the accounts and hubs have been configured, login to the SmartThings IDE website

2: Create devices of type 'simulated switch' (example: *Person At Front Door*)

3: Create automations in SmartThings app to turn these switches off after a period of time once activated

Example: 'If *Person At Front Door* is On, turn it Off after a 30 second delay'

4: Create an account on IFTTT website (free at this time for up to 3 'applets')

5: Add your Arlo and Smartthings accounts to your IFTTT account as 'services'

6: Create IFTTT applets to switch on the 'simulated switches' based on Arlo person detection alerts

Example: If Person Detected on Arlo Front door camera, turn on *Person At Front Door' switch in SmartThings

Note: Three camera-to-switch automated 'applets' for free, beyond that a paid IFTTT account is required

7: Create automations in SmartThings that use the 'simulated switches' to control devices

Example: If *Person At Front Door' is On, switch on lights located near the front door for 10 minutes

Use cases:

I replaced several physical light switches which are wired to existing outdoor light fittings, with Z-wave switches controlled by SmartThings.  Various outdoor lights now come on automatically if a person walks into view of specific cameras at specific times of day.  I also have a number of ZigBee and WiFi smart plugs with lamps attached around the house which come on automatically if a person is detected outside after dark. These lights will not typically activate if animals, rain or wind blowing through trees and shrubs activate the cameras - just people, though very occasionally false 'person detected' alerts do occur, and occasionally a person can walk past a camera without triggering a 'person detected' notification.

Notes:

There is a lag between camera activation and the notification being relayed from Arlo via the IFTTT service to the SmartThings hub to trigger an automation - in my experience a minimum of 3 seconds, average 5 to 6 seconds, and sometimes up to 20 seconds or longer.  For this reason this type of automation is not very useful for providing fast supplemental lighting for the operation of the cameras themselves, but very useful for giving a potential intruder the impression that they have been seen (the lag time makes it appear as though lights have been switched on manually by an observer) even if there's nobody in the house. Cheap solar-powered motion-activated lights are recommended outdoors for supplementing the spotlight on most Arlo camera models, to improve image quality at medium range (20 to 30 feet) in very dark areas and thus improve the reliability of the person detection feature on the cameras.

[Bricemb96]

Arlo needs more and better compatibility with the Google assistant. That includes the Google Assistant App, Google Home Hub devices, Google home App, and Chromecast.
Prior to purchasing the Arlo Pro 4 i was mislead that it worked more with the Google Home device and Google Assistant to notify you when people were approaching or vehicles approaching as well as packages being left.
Which this is not the case at all. The only feature i see that works is being able to show a live feed on a Chromecast by saying hey Google show me Arlo.

This is not the smart home integrated camera i was mislead to believe it was, Arlo please look into adding more features and comptibility/integration to Google smart home services.