MOTION DETECTION RANGE ARLO PRO 4

[TR52]

I HAVE A ARLO PRO 4 MOUNTED ON THE SIDE OF MY HOUSE 8-1/2 FEET ABOVE GRADE AND IS POINTED SLIGHTLY DOWNWARD. ADDITIONAL INSTALLATION MATTERS ARE AS FOLLOWS: 1) IT FACES NORTH WITH NO DIRECT SUN INTERFERENCE, 2) IT IS LOCATED 25 FEET FROM MY WIFI ROUTER INSIDE MY HOUSE (2 X 4 WALL WITH WOOD SIDING) 3) MOTION SENSITIVITY IS SET AT 100%, 4) ACTIVATION ZONE ONLY INCLUDES MY DRIVEWAY SO THE AREA IS NOT MORE THAN 25 FEET FROM THE CAMERA, AND 5) THE BATTERY IS 100% CHARGED. 

PERFORMED ACTIVATION TEST AND THE CAMERA WILL ONLY DETECT MOTION WITHIN 12 FEET OF THE CAMERA. THE ARLO MOTION DECTECTION RANGE CHART INDICATES THAT THE PRO 4 HAS A MOTION SENSING / ACTIVATION RANGE OF 25 FEET. WHY WON'T THE ARLO PRO 4 SENSE MOTION FURTHER THAN 12 FEET FROM THE CAMERA??

[StephenB]

When you do the test, are you walking straight towards the camera?  Or are you walking across the field of view?

In general, Arlo cameras are more sensitive to motion across the field of view, and are more sensitive to motion at the bottom of the field of view than the top. 

[jguerdat]

Another thought is to tilt the camera down more. Use of an activity zones is good but there's not need to capture the street or sky - point it so only the real area of interest is.

[TR52]

Thanks for the recommendation. The camera is positioned so that a person is walking across the field of view with the camera pointed downward about 30 degrees. I will keep fiddling with it to see if I can get better activation. Thanks again.

[TR52]

Thanks for the tip. As you suggested, I "fiddled" with the camera angle a few times to ensure the field of vision / activation only included the drive way area. Unfortunately, the camera still only triggered activation / notification within the approximate 12' range. 

[jguerdat]

A screenshot of the camera's view may be useful.

[TR52]

Activation occurs when a person reaches the back door of the gray sedan which is 12 feet from the camera.

[jguerdat]

My suspicion is that most of the motion is (more or less) directly at the camera. PIR sensors use "zones" (think of pie wedges emanating out from the sensor) and work best when the subject moves from one zone to another. Your subject may be staying within a zone until he gets closer, where the wedge edges get closer together.

[StephenB]

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@TR52 wrote:

Activation occurs when a person reaches the back door of the gray sedan which is 12 feet from the camera.

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The side of the sedan closest to the camera?  Or are you talking about the opposite side?

What path is the person taking?  From the front of the car towards the back?  Or past the van at the top?

While it's hard to tell from a cropped photo, like @jguerdat I am wondering if the person is walking directly towards the camera along the passenger side of the sedan.  If so, that creates two challenges for the sensor:

1. The sensor is most sensitive to side-to-side motion
2. The sensor is more sensitive at the bottom of the field of view

[TR52]

Thanks for the response. Good questions.   Regarding the image, for some reason Arlo "cropped" the photo image during uploading. My photo image shows a wider perspective.

1. Yes, the side closest to the camera. 

2. The person is walking left to right in the activation zone. In other words, the person is walking from the rear of the black SUV to the gray sedan on the side closest to the camera.

Thanks for the additional comments and observations. 

[TR52]

Thanks for the response. Your technical comments are helpful in trying to understand how the Arlo activation operates.

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

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@TR52 wrote:

Regarding the image, for some reason Arlo "cropped" the photo image during uploading.

Annoying!  I'm tagging @JamesC to call his attention to this new (and unwanted) behavior.

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@TR52 wrote:

1. Yes, the side closest to the camera. 

2. The person is walking left to right in the activation zone. In other words, the person is walking from the rear of the black SUV to the gray sedan on the side closest to the camera.

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One thing you can try is inverting the camera (and then rotating the video using the control in the app).  That should improve sensistivity near the SUV, but would reduce the sensitivity at the bottom of the field of view.