AI not that smart

[FlatBugger]

I've had Arlo security cameras for over a year now and have noticed that not all footage taken by the cameras is available to me in the cloud. I believe the AI is making decisions about content that's erroneous. I can clearly see the cameras are recording but sometimes that footage never shows up in my Arlo cloud account. I wish there was a was to disable Arlo smart as it's a bit hit and miss....

[StephenB]

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@FlatBugger wrote:

 I wish there was a was to disable Arlo smart as it's a bit hit and miss....

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There is a way to do that.  Go into the Arlo Smart area (settings->Smart Notifications).  You can then drag cameras from the "Active" list to the "Inactive" list.  Inactive cameras are still subscribed and recording/notifying.  But Smart is turned off.

[FlatBugger]

Oh thank you.... So now my cameras will still record when motion sensor activates but all footage will just be labelled motion?

I'm hoping this will mean I'll get all footage recorded now, instead of just the footage that the AI has deemed valid?

[StephenB]

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@FlatBugger wrote:

Oh thank you.... So now my cameras will still record when motion sensor activates but all footage will just be labelled motion?

Yes.

If you haven't checked the "all other motion" category in smart, you could alternatively try that.

[FlatBugger]

I have been using all other motion option. The problem I have discovered that not all footage recorded on cameras will end up available to me. I believe the AI is filtering out footage, based on some criteria and it doesn't end up in my library. 

[FlatBugger]

...I find now that when smart is disabled (could be enabled with same result) and all other motion is active, the cameras will on occasion seem to be recording. Best example is at night when spotlight will activate seemingly indicating camera is recording but no footage ever becomes available....I think the Arlo software on occasion just gets bogged down and some footage recorded at camera end simply doesn't get processed and the Arlo cloud doesn't get the footage.

[StephenB]

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@FlatBugger wrote:

 Best example is at night when spotlight will activate seemingly indicating camera is recording but no footage ever becomes available....

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Are you using activity zones on the camera?

[FlatBugger]

Not currently on the camera in question as I want motion footage for the entire field of view. 

[StephenB]

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@FlatBugger wrote:

Not currently on the camera in question as I want motion footage for the entire field of view. 

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Is the camera connected to a base/smarthub?  Or is it directly connected to your home wifi?

[FlatBugger]

It's connected directly to wifi and it's a pro 4. I have two other cameras connected to a smarthub. The only advantage of hub I can see is local storage. I have a reasonably powerful mesh wifi network

[StephenB]

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@FlatBugger wrote:

It's connected directly to wifi and it's a pro 4. I have two other cameras connected to a smarthub. The only advantage of hub I can see is local storage. I have a reasonably powerful mesh wifi network

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I was thinking that if you connect it to the smarthub then you'd be able to see the local recordings - that would let you check if anything is being dropped by the cloud.

[FlatBugger]

Thanks for the help. I have already explored the idea of cloud and local storage with other Arlo cameras connected to hub. Had similar issues. I'm going to put it down to an anomaly, this data analysis is giving me a headache. I get hundreds of recordings a day from each camera. Mainly because I have trees and wind.

[kenardoni]

Hello all! I recently installed a couple Arlo Pro cameras outside my house. While I am happy with them overall, I find that the motion detection isn't fantastic. Is it possible to use a separate motion detector to trigger the Arlo cam to start recording and send me a notification? I'm using a SmartThings hub, if that matters.

If this is possible, is there a particular motion sensor that you recommend?

Thanks!

[StephenB]

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@kenardoni wrote:

 While I am happy with them overall, I find that the motion detection isn't fantastic. Is it possible to use a separate motion detector to trigger the Arlo cam to start recording and send me a notification?

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Range of the PIR sensors is generally 20-25 feet.

I haven't used third-party integration features, but suspect you can't trigger recordings from non-Arlo sensors.

You can trigger them from other Arlo cameras.  The old audio doorbell also has motion detection, so it could also be used.

[jguerdat]

For the record, the 20-25 feet of motion detection is for people. Smaller subjects may need to be closer and cars, etc. can cause triggers from much further distances.

[FlatBugger]

I understand that the sensor is very broad and picks up movement from anything big enough. At my house that's mostly tree movement from wind. I'll get 100's of motion detections a day which makes it necessary to have solar panels too. Of course the sensor isn't smart so the Arlo detection system relies on all footage being updated to cloud for AI analysis before it can become meaningful and of course the AI isn't that smart either so good luck 👍