These little PIRs are great, each year I've used them at Christmas, I run a set of small xmas trees along our drive/pathway, put a PIR in each one, so as you walk up the drive they light in sequence, a nice little effect and cheapo!
+Andy Brown Replying to myself is always a bit strange, but anyway, the method of adding the transistor as +bigclivedotcom shows is a much better way than I'd done in the past. My method fed each individual xmas tree set of LEDs back, and the output of the PIR, so each tree had 4 wires to it (+ve -ve LED-trigger PIR-output) which made it quite a mess wiring back 10 of these to my garage! Back in the garage I then used an Arduino (overkill!) to read the inputs coming from the PIRs and then switch a relay bank for the output. It was a bit heavy-handed approach, but gave me the advantage I could do a sequenced display on them when nobody was in front of them triggering the PIRs. I'll do a video myself shortly with my plans this year as Clive has given me a bit of inspiration!
Instructive video explaining electronic circuits that are triggered by PIR modules. Thank you for explaining this popular and widespread application so nicely !
I have been experimenting with logic level mosfets with these PIR sensors due to low current output but they usually didn't work for me , my only option was to use arduino to trigger a transistor but with this circuit design you have made my day sir.. I guess there always is something to learn after all :-) Thanks a lot again for sharing and making the world a better place , at least for me :)
Excellent tutorial anyone who didn't study electronics will find this informative. These pir modules didn't exist when I studied, shows my ancient age.
I use this PIR as a movement sensor light. 3 X 1.5 Alkaline batteries with almost the same circuit you have there. I fitted an LDR and it works a treat. In our bathroom the batteries last about a year. I put all the electronics in under the Fresnel lens and used a 5630 LED with about 15mA drive. That lights up the whole room. Cost here on eBay was around $1.20 each for the PIR and the LEDs were $3.15 for 100 on a tape.
Bought one of these for €0.70 (£0.52) after watching this video a while back. Been experimenting with it as a cat-on-kitchen-worktop-detector (soon to be deterrent once I find a suitable motor to hook up to this tambourine!) and it works rather well. For some reason with the jumper in the default (L) position the output stayed high constantly, no matter what I did. Removing the jumper entirely gave me the desired functionality. Thanks for the video.
Ive used loads of these modules in the past, if you look closely on the front of the board next to the pir sensor itself there's two pads there for a standard ldr to fit under the fresnel lens for night only operation!
Was really hoping a new video came out soon. I really find them interesting. This one is one of your best, add you actually went through some (additional) circuit design. Nice job. I always thought that the lens columnated what the PIR "sees" (in theory making it possible to walk around the beams) but your explanation makes sense. You are a natural teacher. Keep up the good work. BTW... What's up with the one hater on all your videos? 10 minutes after any video you post there is one hater who posts a "thumbs down". You would think he would just stop watching if he feels that strongly. Thumbs up from here. ☝
+Rich Booth dont worry about the thumbs down, apparently its all user involvement to youtube, also weirdly, from PC you can thumbs down a comment, but not from ipad or cell phone. thumbs up or nothing! weird, not that thumbing down a comment does anything useful anyway
Great video and box idea. I used one of these modules, buffered by a BC109 transistor and a reed relay to control a DFPlayer mini, to play an mp3 file from a micro-sd card. Run from 6 D-cell batteries. Strange problem, it played permanently except when somebody got close; it turned out the speaker magnet (external field) was opposing the reed relay coil's field causing the reed relay to operate as NC instead of NO! Moved it away from the magnet and now the module works fine, and my visitors will have ghost sounds at Halloween!
Just got a few of these modules to play with and with no documentation, was wondering what the jumper and the pots did, then this turned up in suggested videos. Thank you for a good explanation of it all.
I watch your videos regularly, but it's very handy to dip into "classic clive" from 7 years ago. I bought my first PIR module (noob alert) and confidently wired it to my ESP32 microcontroller. It detects movement ALL the time. Thought it was a dud, but MAYBE it just needs the transistor you mention in this video, as the ESP32 must be fluctuating quite a bit based on what I have already connected to it, the voltage/current to the PIR must be all over the place...I shall experiment!...BUT NEVER EXPERIMENT WITH 240V...again. Glad I didn't throw it away, it may work perfectly fine with the correct knowledge!
I bought a bunch of these HC-SR501's, and they all go off all the time, every few seconds. Completely useless. I've done more research, and they are crap. Many people complain of the same issue. Pull up or down resistors, extra capacitors, do not work. These super cheap PIR's are just no good. One place suggested getting Panasonic PIR's, in the EKMB or EKMC series. I got several for about $10 each from DigiKey, and these work perfect. They take either 3.3 or 5 volts in, but the output is 0.5 volts less that the VIN, so I supplied them with 3.3v so I don't overload the input on my ESP32. They are working perfectly, no false alarms.
I just got one of these sensors. I plan to use it with my Raspberry Pi and a camera module to: A) sense motion B) take a photo and C) email the photo to me.
This video tittle literally describes word for word exactly what I was looking for. Thanks ! Also I found those LED lights to be called 'Copper String Lights'
I would have never guessed that these work by sensing body heat. I see them all the time in my classrooms, and at the local supermarkets to turn the lights on in the coolers when you're in front of the door.
Along with the pyroelectic sensor is a bunch of supporting circuitry, resistors and capacitors. It seems that most small hobbyist sensors use the BISS0001 ("Micro Power PIR Motion Detector IC"), undoubtedly a very inexpensive chip. This chip takes the output of the sensor and does some minor processing on it to emit a digital output pulse from the analog sensor.
VERY interesting article, and plenty of food for thought where device incorporation is concerned. Living in the Southern Hemisphere we don't bother with PIR when we have the Christmas (solar) lights out on the garden bushes, etc., 'cause we have no shortage of "Aussie Strength" midsummer sunshine during the day :-)
you can increase the input impedance of the transisitor buffer by bootstrapping the input terminal of the transistor thus minimizing the loading effect on the pir module or better yet employ a complementary feedback pair where there is 100% feed back to the emiiter and base of the driver transistor taken from the collector current of the second transistor of the CFP resulting in an even much higher input impedance
I just found out that those big PIR's false trigger when using 3.7v. I just removed the protection diode & directly connected it to 3.7v. It works fine!!!!
+A B I D They do. It defeats the voltage regulation, so they constantly re-trip when they turn off and the voltage changes slightly. That diode does buy you an extra half volt of operating voltage.
Seems non-retriggerable mode would be good if you were, for example, counting the number of movements in front of the PIR, and once a threshold was reached, you then set a flag to send a message such as: "there seems to be a lot of movement in front of your car - it might be being stolen".
China is ahead of you! i bought a while back, a pir 8 led light, takes 2xaa (which i like, esp as it works fine with nimh) not waterproof though, but might do as you suggest and put in a cheap tupperware, its been running reliably for about 3 months on same batteries, i probably activate it 30 times a day, (it also has the light sensor so no activation in bright light) it was meant for my garage, but i leave it in the kitchen on these dark evenings to save me always turning the light on. can post ebay number if anyone intersted.
+jusb1066 I found a retriggeable PIR cabinet light from Lidl, it uses 1 AAA battery and some sort of step-up regulator to drive the PIR circuit and a single LED. It has a LDR to not trigger in daylight and lasts a few weeks on the same battery, even when triggered multiple times every night. I use it as a night light to see my way into the bathroom.
Nice video Clive - I just received 3 of these modules by mistake instead of the buck boost converters I ordered. Now I know what they are, I'll have to find something to make with them... The 3.3V output probably won't be enough to trigger a mosfet to switch a couple of 100W LEDs @ 32-34V, but a transistor should be able to bump it up.
Your videos have inspired me to learn something about electronics. I love the way you showed the development of the circuit and I realize that you posted this a year ago, but I really want to know how you chose the value of the two resistors.
The base resistor was selected experimentally based on supplying enough current to turn the transistor on fully without loading the PIR module too much. The series resistor for the LEDs was chosen to provide enough current to make the LEDs glow at a decent intensity, but not draw too much current to maximise the battery life. Both can be adjusted within reason.
Heyy Clive, You talked a bit about the chip supporting a LDR and you where not sure if the trigger disable pin was just connected to 5V. If you look closely at the big PIRs you can spot two trough hole solder pads in the middle. That's so you can add a LDR yourself ;) The pull up resistor (R2 in the schematic) is already there.
I need to make up several of these units for my smallholding, as the post-Cv19 glamping rush means that all fully-built remote PIR LED units are like hen's teeth. Just got to get my head around all that you're describing, as it's a bit of a mind-fk for someone who's only semi-electronics literate.
Do you do any Arduino stuff Clive? I made a few projects related to RF data transception and a couple videos on some of my projects I wanted made public, nothing fancy. I never had a real need for PIR devices so I never ordered any but interesting video as always man. The glass vs plastic thing is interesting, though
I finally got my Raspberry Pi wired up with one of these PIR modules. It sends a signal to my Raspberry Pi to take a photo and email it to myself. I added an LED to let me know when it senses motion. It is so sensitive, I can just smile and it will trigger. The two potentiometers don't seem to change the sensitivity. I guess I could partially cover the lens to lessen sensitivity.
Hi Big Clive! :) Very interesting info here! I have a question: did you manage to compare and/or change the response time, and/or the retriggering time after detection in these models? For what the models i have is concerned, i see a minimun HIGH time of about 3 seconds, and then about 5 seconds of stopped time to retrigger (in single triggering mode). In autoretriggering, as you explain, device is in HIGH continuously if there is a motion detection, but then, again 5 seconds of 'stop' time. I tried to make some hacks on resistor in order to decrease this time, unsuccesfully. Have you got any info or results in this way? thanks so mucho! Javi
I have been using a outdoor solar charged security light with pir sensor - it is as bright as the sun but even on the most sensitive setting it is fairly dumb. I have to jump up and down waving my arms at it to get it to fire. Guess that's why it was $20 us
top bananas, thanks Clive, just got mine working working on trying to connect it to another light source but that one has a switch on it maybe bypass the switch all together.
If I have a few scrap Blue ray drives, Could I somehow take a car dash cam and incorporate I wonder & then incorporate it with a telescope to make night vision? Probably not thermal?🤔🤔 I hate wasting things in this throw away world "as you know". Anyways No need to answer but this has peaked my curiosity so much more!!
I found this video while searching for the chip on that tiny PIR module. It's sold as hc-sr505 but the chip markings on the 8-pin are removed. That's stupid, what are they trying to hide?
The bigger modules have a spot next to the sensor where you can solder a LDR, such that it sits behind the lens. This appears to complete the LDR part of the schematic. I couldn't find a lot of information about this online, so soldered a LDR on one of my modules, and it seems to do the trick. I think it's really neat to be able to do this without any external circuitry. However, I'm not sure how to tune this well. It seems to work fine outdoors in bright light, but seems to turn on too early in the day if used indoors. I couldn't understand how that bit of schematic works either. It would be great if you could give this feature a look in some more detail. There's very little information about it elsewhere. Thanks a lot for your videos!
hello clive,i have big problem my pir sensor.when i switch on pir sensor active nicely.no any motion continue activating again and again.can u tell what is the reason.i checked 3,4 sensor same problem
You know I do enjoy your videos very much, my wife complains as I often buy the things you post as you make them very interesting. I have been playing around with one of these for a few weeks now off and on, trying to build a 12 volt LED night light that will light up in the bathroom of our RV when we are boondocking (camping with no hookups to power or water.) I had it set up through an arduino, then through a relay and to a little nightlight that I built up from a China kit. They sent me one for 220 rather then 110 and it never worked with AC so I simply cut the AC step down out and it works fine on 12 volts, however refuses to light at all with less voltage. Perhaps I could cut some more resistors out somewhere, but I do like the way it works now, and the fact that our RV has a 12 volt system makes this the proper voltage for my project. My question is, can I hook this up the way you show in this video through the transformer or will I have to use a buck converter to step down the voltage to run the PIR then back up to run the light?
+bigclivedotcom I have pir unit on its way. 1N4007. I have the 1 m led strip. and 12V 2W to plug into the wall. I would like to have the led strip go at 11V soft light and turn on when I pass. This 6V seems a bit too low indeed for the led strip. I suffer from soft brain since the zombie apocalyps and will try to juggle it all together. Does anyone know how to get the old messages back that appear on the top right of youtube when someone gives private message? They vanish?
+Telephone Telephone You can get an inline 12V PIR module that will let you simply plug it into the power supply lead and then feed the LED tape. If you want it to glow gently when off consider putting a simple resistor between either the positive in to positive out or the negative in to negative out (depends on which side is switched.) For a long run of tape you could use a few diodes in series to drop the voltage to the tape slightly when not triggered.
Might be possible to use only three nimh batteries by bipassing the 3.3 voltage regulator inside the pir, and soldering a wire directly from the battery pack to the pir 3.3v pad
I can't find good information on the kind of CdS LDR to use with these. There are some places that say you should put another resistor (e.g. 120K) in parallel with the 1M resistor which is in series with the LDR. Alternatively, you must require a high-resistance CdS. I'm sure I found a discussion in the comments of a HC-SR501 RUclips video but I can't find it and I don't think you can search RUclips comments with Google.
i have 12v LED chip connected with 12v battery throw a resistor witch can be light up with on / off button now i have sr501 motion sensor .so plz tell me how to make the conetion will i need any thing else.
Great tutorial - I'm actually going to do this with the added LDR for some stair lights. Can I ask which standard NPN transistor you recommend for this circuit? Many thanks.
An area of pirs not covered well is the effects of external temperature. Early thermal imagers and perhaps still used gadolinium lenses cooled down with liquid nitrogen. Another site says that pirs will not work in hot climates. Space is made for a thermistor on some pirs. Pirs work much better in winter in the UK and not so well in the summer. Can this be sorted with a thermistor? Does cooling the unit increase the sensitivity or does the range extend in a cooler environment or both? Just a thought or two. Great learning opportunity you provide, many thanks
Thanks for that detailed description and pointer to the datasheet...I got 3 of these from Aliexpress and one from Amazon...the jumper between high and low was missing on the ones from China but the rest of the boards look identical. The purpose of the potentiometers was also a mystery but your video clarified that. I still need to look at the output voltage to figure out if its linear or just switches on to a high voltage. The current draw is also a concern, will it be enough to drive a large NPN into saturation for a 500 ma load (12V LED string) or should I use a Darlington UL2003 to not worry about current multiplication factors.
How to connect a 12V LED strip light directly to the sensor without using any resistor or transistor or a relay. The LED strip light will be powered by 12V 5A driver. The setup will be mounted underneath the kitchen platform. The LED strip light should turn ON when the drawer is opened. Why are transistor and resistor mandatory? What would happen if remove them and connect LED strip light directly? Please respond.
@@bigclivedotcomi created the ckt using this Sensor supported by BC547 transistor and 1k resistor. While I get 12V output from this ckt, but the LED strip light is too Dim. I removed the resistor and the brightness increased a bit. IMO the brightness of the strip after connecting to this ckt would 5% of the regular one. What should I now?
Dear Clive, I watched this vid sometime ago and it was/is excellent. Now I would like to link this sensor to the 130lm camping/solar light system you have also reviewed. Would the voltage be OK?
For 99 pence they are useful if you have an indoor application in mind. Getting one to work from inside a plastic box was unsuccessful for me no matter how I tried. Built two from circuits found on tinternet onto a proto board hoping inter changing components might help, but alas no. Pity if these things worked for other side of glass they would be really useful, at least for me.
That explains why it works in the food containers, cheers. I tried in a plastic bottle also, it worked for a short time and stopped triggering. I take it out the bottle it works again and this repeats. Big bottle 5 liter water bottle. Strange.
I've used these sensors a few times in the past. Drilling a hole the correct size allows the sensor dome to protrude outside the enslosure - it can be glued from the inside. This gets around the problem of attenuation anmd also increases the sensor's viewing angle..
Evening, I’m trying to use MP2307 Adjustable Mini360 DC-DC Converter Step Down Buck Voltage Regulator but I’m getting lost as on your diagram only one wire come out the bottom, but on my regulator there are two outputs, can you offer any help? Happy to put a video up on my channel if needed
Hi Clive, I'm sure you are aware of those PIR sensor built in LED light Bulbs (E27 and B22). I have bought some but they stop to work after about a week of use. Do you what what could be causing them to fail?
I wired mine the same way as your drawing, but without the transistor. It' working just the opposite. The led stays on and goes out when I put my hand in front of the sensor. I'm waiting on transistors to arrive in the mail. Will using the transistor make this work right?
The covering dome is waterproof, you could just drill a hole big enough for the dome to poke out and silicone or water proof it. I would imagine it is for weather as it wouldn't detect anything underwater. Hey Clive you should get one of these to put in the top corner of your video.. demandware.edgesuite.net/aamm_prd/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-joann-product-catalog/default/dwbeaf9ae9/images/hi-res/10/10967677.jpg Those little links are called jumper connection. Computer boards often use them for voltages and clock settings.
That's fascinating! I had no idea they worked on "heat" sources. How come when it's windy the trees in my garden set off my PIR flood lights? I always assumed they just detected "motion" somehow.
+YeCannyDaeThat The trees may be blocking or reflecting an adjacent heat source. The only way to see what the PIR detector is seeing is to use a thermal imaging camera in the same location as the PIR.
+bigclivedotcom mines were triggered by hot birds in the tree. They are so fast you can usually not see them on the film. But please watch out these cameras only last a few months as they get wet inside and I have gone through a flood of them so far. superexpensive and no burglars caught so far.
Hadn't heard about moisture problems, but these thermal imaging cameras are very sensitive to being dropped. Internally they are an array of microscopic thermistors held a bit above the circuit board, and when dropped on a hard surface, pixels actually break off. There's a video around here somewhere from a guy who dropped his SEEK brand thermal camera.
I'd add to your description that PIR window is silicon, the FET is usually connected externally as a source follower buffer with the drain heavily decoupled, and you can implement a simple detector with an LM358 dual op-amp and a discrete transistor threshold detector. Also they detect far infra-red around 10 micron not the near infra-red as used in remote controls, two-element PIRs need to be mounted so the target movement is across the two elements one after the other - they're nowhere near as sensitive to movement at 90º. Due to the two elements in opposition they detect moving changes in temperature* which can mean colder as well as warmer, and the Fresnel lenses are moulded in HDPE. * Actually it's changes in IR energy received, which can be down to temperature and/or emissivity of the target.
Hi Graham. Found your comment very interesting. I want to make a simple PIR circuit for Arduino that sends a pulse or toggles a digital line every time movement is sensed (with no retriggering - the arduino code will handle that). You mentioned an LM358 and a transistor. How simple can the circuit be that connects to an Arduino's digital input? Are we talking three components?
+Mat Smith It's a lot more than just three components. The LM358 etc is just the starting point - there's something like 20-30 other components needed. Believe me you're far better off using one of these modules than rolling your own.
I don't know much about electronics, but where can you get an emitter (the one you connected the output, negative and LEDs negative with)? I have had no luck so far
You're looking for an NPN transistor. Depending where you are in the world it may be able to get a BC547 or 2N3904. These are very cheap and common low power transistors. You can also buy them on eBay. Note that different transistors have the emitter, collector and base on different pins so you have to check online to see which pinout your transistor style has.
Hi sir Thank you for your interesting video and I am thinking applying it for my car. How is schematic looks like to use 12v car battery as a source to drive a horn (similar car's horn) as a siren? Thank you in advance for your advice.
![State of Play | September 24, 2024 [ENGLISH]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/fVs0suPHAX8/mqdefault.jpg)
These little PIRs are great, each year I've used them at Christmas, I run a set of small xmas trees along our drive/pathway, put a PIR in each one, so as you walk up the drive they light in sequence, a nice little effect and cheapo!
+Andy Brown Replying to myself is always a bit strange, but anyway, the method of adding the transistor as +bigclivedotcom shows is a much better way than I'd done in the past.
My method fed each individual xmas tree set of LEDs back, and the output of the PIR, so each tree had 4 wires to it (+ve -ve LED-trigger PIR-output) which made it quite a mess wiring back 10 of these to my garage! Back in the garage I then used an Arduino (overkill!) to read the inputs coming from the PIRs and then switch a relay bank for the output. It was a bit heavy-handed approach, but gave me the advantage I could do a sequenced display on them when nobody was in front of them triggering the PIRs.
I'll do a video myself shortly with my plans this year as Clive has given me a bit of inspiration!
Instructive video explaining electronic circuits that are triggered by PIR modules. Thank you for explaining this popular and widespread application so nicely !
Clive, ur videos stand among the crowd..clear,educating, no BS...you re the man bro.
I have been experimenting with logic level mosfets with these PIR sensors due to low current output but they usually didn't work for me , my only option was to use arduino to trigger a transistor but with this circuit design you have made my day sir.. I guess there always is something to learn after all :-)
Thanks a lot again for sharing and making the world a better place , at least for me :)
ruclips.net/video/ZC_sEW3_694/видео.html
I like your use of standard connectors to build devices. Lots of people spew about lego building blocks. But you build things. Bravo.
Excellent tutorial anyone who didn't study electronics will find this informative. These pir modules didn't exist when I studied, shows my ancient age.
I use this PIR as a movement sensor light. 3 X 1.5 Alkaline batteries with almost the same circuit you have there. I fitted an LDR and it works a treat. In our bathroom the batteries last about a year. I put all the electronics in under the Fresnel lens and used a 5630 LED with about 15mA drive. That lights up the whole room. Cost here on eBay was around $1.20 each for the PIR and the LEDs were $3.15 for 100 on a tape.
but is the voltage enough for the PIR sensor?
Bought one of these for €0.70 (£0.52) after watching this video a while back. Been experimenting with it as a cat-on-kitchen-worktop-detector (soon to be deterrent once I find a suitable motor to hook up to this tambourine!) and it works rather well. For some reason with the jumper in the default (L) position the output stayed high constantly, no matter what I did. Removing the jumper entirely gave me the desired functionality. Thanks for the video.
Ive used loads of these modules in the past, if you look closely on the front of the board next to the pir sensor itself there's two pads there for a standard ldr to fit under the fresnel lens for night only operation!
Lewis Wilson LDR?
A photoresistor (or light-dependent resistor, LDR, or photo-conductive cell)
Neat stuff
Was really hoping a new video came out soon. I really find them interesting. This one is one of your best, add you actually went through some (additional) circuit design. Nice job.
I always thought that the lens columnated what the PIR "sees" (in theory making it possible to walk around the beams) but your explanation makes sense. You are a natural teacher. Keep up the good work.
BTW... What's up with the one hater on all your videos? 10 minutes after any video you post there is one hater who posts a "thumbs down". You would think he would just stop watching if he feels that strongly. Thumbs up from here. ☝
+Markus Bates I've just given it a thumbs down myself to stop it looking lonely.
+Rich Booth dont worry about the thumbs down, apparently its all user involvement to youtube, also weirdly, from PC you can thumbs down a comment, but not from ipad or cell phone. thumbs up or nothing! weird, not that thumbing down a comment does anything useful anyway
+jusb1066 I actually just did it from my iPad, but in the desktop version of RUclips.
bigclivedotcom
ahah, yeah i forgot you can from that side, i actually hate the app becuase its so hard to navigate
+Rich Booth yes i love the vid
Very nice presentation - you set the standard for factual YT videos.
Great video and box idea. I used one of these modules, buffered by a BC109 transistor and a reed relay to control a DFPlayer mini, to play an mp3 file from a micro-sd card. Run from 6 D-cell batteries. Strange problem, it played permanently except when somebody got close; it turned out the speaker magnet (external field) was opposing the reed relay coil's field causing the reed relay to operate as NC instead of NO! Moved it away from the magnet and now the module works fine, and my visitors will have ghost sounds at Halloween!
Ofcourse when I'm looking for something obscure like this you've done a video on it😂
Just got a few of these modules to play with and with no documentation, was wondering what the jumper and the pots did, then this turned up in suggested videos. Thank you for a good explanation of it all.
I watch your videos regularly, but it's very handy to dip into "classic clive" from 7 years ago. I bought my first PIR module (noob alert) and confidently wired it to my ESP32 microcontroller. It detects movement ALL the time. Thought it was a dud, but MAYBE it just needs the transistor you mention in this video, as the ESP32 must be fluctuating quite a bit based on what I have already connected to it, the voltage/current to the PIR must be all over the place...I shall experiment!...BUT NEVER EXPERIMENT WITH 240V...again. Glad I didn't throw it away, it may work perfectly fine with the correct knowledge!
i think you can just add a pull down resistor to make it work
I bought a bunch of these HC-SR501's, and they all go off all the time, every few seconds. Completely useless. I've done more research, and they are crap. Many people complain of the same issue. Pull up or down resistors, extra capacitors, do not work. These super cheap PIR's are just no good. One place suggested getting Panasonic PIR's, in the EKMB or EKMC series. I got several for about $10 each from DigiKey, and these work perfect. They take either 3.3 or 5 volts in, but the output is 0.5 volts less that the VIN, so I supplied them with 3.3v so I don't overload the input on my ESP32. They are working perfectly, no false alarms.
Thanks for the video, been looking for a tutorial for using pir sensors without a microprocessor, lots of help!
I need to buy this guys notebook that he keeps drawing in.
They're like a giant compound eye.
Excellent explanation of the break down of the PS! I've got some work to do to understand all the components. But, now I have a great road map!
Nice, it is this sort of magic that make projects worthwhile
Fantastic description of how PIR works. Now it makes sense! Thanks!
Koray
Serendipity as I have been thinking on doing just this. Superb.
I just got one of these sensors. I plan to use it with my Raspberry Pi and a camera module to:
A) sense motion
B) take a photo
and C) email the photo to me.
This video tittle literally describes word for word exactly what I was looking for. Thanks !
Also I found those LED lights to be called 'Copper String Lights'
Light emitting diode
I would have never guessed that these work by sensing body heat. I see them all the time in my classrooms, and at the local supermarkets to turn the lights on in the coolers when you're in front of the door.
Along with the pyroelectic sensor is a bunch of supporting circuitry, resistors and capacitors. It seems that most small hobbyist sensors use the BISS0001 ("Micro Power PIR Motion Detector IC"), undoubtedly a very inexpensive chip. This chip takes the output of the sensor and does some minor processing on it to emit a digital output pulse from the analog sensor.
VERY interesting article, and plenty of food for thought where device incorporation is concerned. Living in the Southern Hemisphere we don't bother with PIR when we have the Christmas (solar) lights out on the garden bushes, etc., 'cause we have no shortage of "Aussie Strength" midsummer sunshine during the day :-)
Good simple explanation on PIR's
you can increase the input impedance of the transisitor buffer by bootstrapping the input terminal of the transistor thus minimizing the loading effect on the pir module or better yet employ a complementary feedback pair where there is 100% feed back to the emiiter and base of the driver transistor taken from the collector current of the second transistor of the CFP resulting in an even much higher input impedance
I just found out that those big PIR's
false trigger when using 3.7v.
I just removed the protection diode & directly connected it to 3.7v.
It works fine!!!!
+A B I D They do. It defeats the voltage regulation, so they constantly re-trip when they turn off and the voltage changes slightly. That diode does buy you an extra half volt of operating voltage.
Seems non-retriggerable mode would be good if you were, for example, counting the number of movements in front of the PIR, and once a threshold was reached, you then set a flag to send a message such as: "there seems to be a lot of movement in front of your car - it might be being stolen".
Great video. The diagram of the PIR you drew looked like you were going to draw a portrait of BOB ROSS. LOL.
Interesting light 💡 technology
China is ahead of you! i bought a while back, a pir 8 led light, takes 2xaa (which i like, esp as it works fine with nimh) not waterproof though, but might do as you suggest and put in a cheap tupperware, its been running reliably for about 3 months on same batteries, i probably activate it 30 times a day, (it also has the light sensor so no activation in bright light) it was meant for my garage, but i leave it in the kitchen on these dark evenings to save me always turning the light on. can post ebay number if anyone intersted.
+jusb1066 > can post ebay number if anyone interested.
Please do!
+ehjones 301679278314 from ebay uk , i bought 1 of these, and have ordered a couple more
+jusb1066 I found a retriggeable PIR cabinet light from Lidl, it uses 1 AAA battery and some sort of step-up regulator to drive the PIR circuit and a single LED. It has a LDR to not trigger in daylight and lasts a few weeks on the same battery, even when triggered multiple times every night. I use it as a night light to see my way into the bathroom.
I have come across units that use LM324 chips. Those ones always have a relay.
Just the circuit I was looking for. 👍
thanks Big Clive, that was pretty cool, I also bought some of those and this was a very helpful video for understanding them!
every time I watch a movie again I learn something, good work m8 Thank you and make more PLz :)
Nice video Clive - I just received 3 of these modules by mistake instead of the buck boost converters I ordered.
Now I know what they are, I'll have to find something to make with them...
The 3.3V output probably won't be enough to trigger a mosfet to switch a couple of 100W LEDs @ 32-34V, but a transistor should be able to bump it up.
Getting so many spooky halloween ideas. :-)
Great Video Dude. Keep up the great work. & Happy New Year. Nick.
Your videos have inspired me to learn something about electronics. I love the way you showed the development of the circuit and I realize that you posted this a year ago, but I really want to know how you chose the value of the two resistors.
The base resistor was selected experimentally based on supplying enough current to turn the transistor on fully without loading the PIR module too much. The series resistor for the LEDs was chosen to provide enough current to make the LEDs glow at a decent intensity, but not draw too much current to maximise the battery life. Both can be adjusted within reason.
Nice neat detectors, and if you want to drive the leds harder then replace the npn with a darlington type.
That tiny one is really neat :-)
Heyy Clive,
You talked a bit about the chip supporting a LDR and you where not sure if the trigger disable pin was just connected to 5V. If you look closely at the big PIRs you can spot two trough hole solder pads in the middle. That's so you can add a LDR yourself ;) The pull up resistor (R2 in the schematic) is already there.
I need to make up several of these units for my smallholding, as the post-Cv19 glamping rush means that all fully-built remote PIR LED units are like hen's teeth. Just got to get my head around all that you're describing, as it's a bit of a mind-fk for someone who's only semi-electronics literate.
I learned a lot from this video, thanks
Got me thinking of a project in mind.
Thanks BC!
Very useful video I ordered 1 of these and it's just come in the post.
play time ;-)
Do you do any Arduino stuff Clive?
I made a few projects related to RF data transception and a couple videos on some of my projects I wanted made public, nothing fancy.
I never had a real need for PIR devices so I never ordered any but interesting video as always man.
The glass vs plastic thing is interesting, though
I finally got my Raspberry Pi wired up with one of these PIR modules. It sends a signal to my Raspberry Pi to take a photo and email it to myself. I added an LED to let me know when it senses motion. It is so sensitive, I can just smile and it will trigger. The two potentiometers don't seem to change the sensitivity. I guess I could partially cover the lens to lessen sensitivity.
At 7:08, why not an N-channel MOSFET? You'd have lower on resistance and wouldn't be loading the PIR down with base current.
Thanks. Very helpful!
I could use your skills on our team :) Very interesting, thanks for posting
Always wondered how those things worked!
you can just solder in an LDR into the larger module. It will then trigger only when it is dark. :)
That's covered in another video.
bigclivedotcom crazy youtube it showed me your 1 year old video.. Oh god why did I read it as 1 hour.. probably the booze ;)
Hi Big Clive! :)
Very interesting info here! I have a question: did you manage to compare and/or change the response time, and/or the retriggering time after detection in these models?
For what the models i have is concerned, i see a minimun HIGH time of about 3 seconds, and then about 5 seconds of stopped time to retrigger (in single triggering mode). In autoretriggering, as you explain, device is in HIGH continuously if there is a motion detection, but then, again 5 seconds of 'stop' time. I tried to make some hacks on resistor in order to decrease this time, unsuccesfully. Have you got any info or results in this way?
thanks so mucho!
Javi
Interface with small relays and switch line voltage lights
I have been using a outdoor solar charged security light with pir sensor - it is as bright as the sun but even on the most sensitive setting it is fairly dumb. I have to jump up and down waving my arms at it to get it to fire. Guess that's why it was $20 us
top bananas, thanks Clive, just got mine working working on trying to connect it to another light source but that one has a switch on it maybe bypass the switch all together.
You sound just like Matt from DIY Perks!
If I have a few scrap Blue ray drives, Could I somehow take a car dash cam and incorporate I wonder & then incorporate it with a telescope to make night vision? Probably not thermal?🤔🤔
I hate wasting things in this throw away world "as you know". Anyways No need to answer but this has peaked my curiosity so much more!!
I found this video while searching for the chip on that tiny PIR module. It's sold as hc-sr505 but the chip markings on the 8-pin are removed. That's stupid, what are they trying to hide?
The bigger modules have a spot next to the sensor where you can solder a LDR, such that it sits behind the lens. This appears to complete the LDR part of the schematic. I couldn't find a lot of information about this online, so soldered a LDR on one of my modules, and it seems to do the trick. I think it's really neat to be able to do this without any external circuitry. However, I'm not sure how to tune this well. It seems to work fine outdoors in bright light, but seems to turn on too early in the day if used indoors. I couldn't understand how that bit of schematic works either. It would be great if you could give this feature a look in some more detail. There's very little information about it elsewhere.
Thanks a lot for your videos!
I see my mistake. I was looking at the wrong datasheet. I was looking at this: www.mpja.com/download/31227sc.pdf
thanks for the tip. I soldered on an LDR and it works great.
hello clive,i have big problem my pir sensor.when i switch on pir sensor active nicely.no any motion continue activating again and again.can u tell what is the reason.i checked 3,4 sensor same problem
Very informative, thanks!
You know I do enjoy your videos very much, my wife complains as I often buy the things you post as you make them very interesting. I have been playing around with one of these for a few weeks now off and on, trying to build a 12 volt LED night light that will light up in the bathroom of our RV when we are boondocking (camping with no hookups to power or water.) I had it set up through an arduino, then through a relay and to a little nightlight that I built up from a China kit. They sent me one for 220 rather then 110 and it never worked with AC so I simply cut the AC step down out and it works fine on 12 volts, however refuses to light at all with less voltage. Perhaps I could cut some more resistors out somewhere, but I do like the way it works now, and the fact that our RV has a 12 volt system makes this the proper voltage for my project. My question is, can I hook this up the way you show in this video through the transformer or will I have to use a buck converter to step down the voltage to run the PIR then back up to run the light?
I was hoping for a video of how to use these in multiple way, like use with usb plug from pc or with 12v strip or plug in power etc
+James Tran Review and internal examination of 12V inline versions coming soon.
+James Tran Would love that too, come on Bigclive lets see some 12v led strings and pir sensors ;o)
+bigclivedotcom I have pir unit on its way. 1N4007. I have the 1 m led strip. and 12V 2W to plug into the wall. I would like to have the led strip go at 11V soft light and turn on when I pass. This 6V seems a bit too low indeed for the led strip. I suffer from soft brain since the zombie apocalyps and will try to juggle it all together. Does anyone know how to get the old messages back that appear on the top right of youtube when someone gives private message? They vanish?
+Telephone Telephone You can get an inline 12V PIR module that will let you simply plug it into the power supply lead and then feed the LED tape. If you want it to glow gently when off consider putting a simple resistor between either the positive in to positive out or the negative in to negative out (depends on which side is switched.) For a long run of tape you could use a few diodes in series to drop the voltage to the tape slightly when not triggered.
Might be possible to use only three nimh batteries by bipassing the 3.3 voltage regulator inside the pir, and soldering a wire directly from the battery pack to the pir 3.3v pad
That could result in instability due to the voltage fluctuations when the lights were switching.
Thanks for the reply :D I'm a big fan
still useful ... like it
I can't find good information on the kind of CdS LDR to use with these. There are some places that say you should put another resistor (e.g. 120K) in parallel with the 1M resistor which is in series with the LDR. Alternatively, you must require a high-resistance CdS. I'm sure I found a discussion in the comments of a HC-SR501 RUclips video but I can't find it and I don't think you can search RUclips comments with Google.
Looks lovely, sadly I live 2 floors above ground so I can't really use them anywhere (except indoors I suppose).
Love these videos :) Do you have any plans to do a video about load cells + ADCs?
i have 12v LED chip connected with 12v battery throw a resistor witch can be light up with on / off button
now i have sr501 motion sensor .so plz tell me how to make the conetion
will i need any thing else.
Are there discussions of what goes into designing and building the actual PIR modules themselves?
Great tutorial - I'm actually going to do this with the added LDR for some stair lights. Can I ask which standard NPN transistor you recommend for this circuit? Many thanks.
An area of pirs not covered well is the effects of external temperature. Early thermal imagers and perhaps still used gadolinium lenses cooled down with liquid nitrogen. Another site says that pirs will not work in hot climates. Space is made for a thermistor on some pirs. Pirs work much better in winter in the UK and not so well in the summer. Can this be sorted with a thermistor? Does cooling the unit increase the sensitivity or does the range extend in a cooler environment or both? Just a thought or two.
Great learning opportunity you provide, many thanks
The PIR sensors detect thermal difference. You can adjust the sensitivity in the summer.
Thanks for that detailed description and pointer to the datasheet...I got 3 of these from Aliexpress and one from Amazon...the jumper between high and low was missing on the ones from China but the rest of the boards look identical.
The purpose of the potentiometers was also a mystery but your video clarified that.
I still need to look at the output voltage to figure out if its linear or just switches on to a high voltage. The current draw is also a concern, will it be enough to drive a large NPN into saturation for a 500 ma load (12V LED string) or should I use a Darlington UL2003 to not worry about current multiplication factors.
Well done video!
Where did you get the whitish connectors from?
Thanks for sharing!
How to connect a 12V LED strip light directly to the sensor without using any resistor or transistor or a relay. The LED strip light will be powered by 12V 5A driver. The setup will be mounted underneath the kitchen platform. The LED strip light should turn ON when the drawer is opened.
Why are transistor and resistor mandatory? What would happen if remove them and connect LED strip light directly?
Please respond.
The circuit can't drive high loads. It absolutely needs a buffer. That also avoids false retriggering caused by high current fluctuation.
@@bigclivedotcomi created the ckt using this Sensor supported by BC547 transistor and 1k resistor. While I get 12V output from this ckt, but the LED strip light is too Dim. I removed the resistor and the brightness increased a bit. IMO the brightness of the strip after connecting to this ckt would 5% of the regular one. What should I now?
Dear Clive, I watched this vid sometime ago and it was/is excellent. Now I would like to link this sensor to the 130lm camping/solar light system you have also reviewed. Would the voltage be OK?
For 99 pence they are useful if you have an indoor application in mind. Getting one to work from inside a plastic box was unsuccessful for me no matter how I tried. Built two from circuits found on tinternet onto a proto board hoping inter changing components might help, but alas no. Pity if these things worked for other side of glass they would be really useful, at least for me.
PIR sensors can only sense through plastics that are transparent to long wave infrared. Like polythene food storage containers.
That explains why it works in the food containers, cheers. I tried in a plastic bottle also, it worked for a short time and stopped triggering. I take it out the bottle it works again and this repeats. Big bottle 5 liter water bottle. Strange.
I've used these sensors a few times in the past. Drilling a hole the correct size allows the sensor dome to protrude outside the enslosure - it can be glued from the inside. This gets around the problem of attenuation anmd also increases the sensor's viewing angle..
PIR in my bathroom nightlight also detected movement through a shower curtain about 5 feet away.
Very informative
Need a Darlington pair, output current of pir is tiny and light wont fully turn on
The circuit shown is for a small transistor with good gain, and low LED loads. A Darlington would allow higher loads, as would an A2SHB MOSFET.
Evening, I’m trying to use MP2307 Adjustable Mini360 DC-DC Converter Step Down Buck Voltage Regulator but I’m getting lost as on your diagram only one wire come out the bottom, but on my regulator there are two outputs, can you offer any help? Happy to put a video up on my channel if needed
You should write these projects up, with schematics and parts list and sell them for a buck or two!! I would buy bunches !!!
very nice
great vids! Aside from using 4 batteries what is another solution for dealing with the FP flickering? I'm plugging in through 12V
I never knew Christmas lights could be this complex lmao. And I'm a sparky haha embarrassing.
Hi Clive, I'm sure you are aware of those PIR sensor built in LED light Bulbs (E27 and B22). I have bought some but they stop to work after about a week of use. Do you what what could be causing them to fail?
I am SO going to light Random Trees in the middle of Nowhere. :-)
jlucasound the trees in Anihilation at the end
I wired mine the same way as your drawing, but without the transistor. It' working just the opposite. The led stays on and goes out when I put my hand in front of the sensor. I'm waiting on transistors to arrive in the mail. Will using the transistor make this work right?
Nice thanks for sharing
It can prevent working accident.
The covering dome is waterproof, you could just drill a hole big enough for the dome to poke out and silicone or water proof it.
I would imagine it is for weather as it wouldn't detect anything underwater.
Hey Clive you should get one of these to put in the top corner of your video..
demandware.edgesuite.net/aamm_prd/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-joann-product-catalog/default/dwbeaf9ae9/images/hi-res/10/10967677.jpg
Those little links are called jumper connection. Computer boards often use them for voltages and clock settings.
That's fascinating! I had no idea they worked on "heat" sources. How come when it's windy the trees in my garden set off my PIR flood lights? I always assumed they just detected "motion" somehow.
+YeCannyDaeThat The trees may be blocking or reflecting an adjacent heat source. The only way to see what the PIR detector is seeing is to use a thermal imaging camera in the same location as the PIR.
+bigclivedotcom mines were triggered by hot birds in the tree. They are so fast you can usually not see them on the film. But please watch out these cameras only last a few months as they get wet inside and I have gone through a flood of them so far. superexpensive and no burglars caught so far.
Hadn't heard about moisture problems, but these thermal imaging cameras are very sensitive to being dropped. Internally they are an array of microscopic thermistors held a bit above the circuit board, and when dropped on a hard surface, pixels actually break off. There's a video around here somewhere from a guy who dropped his SEEK brand thermal camera.
I'd add to your description that PIR window is silicon, the FET is usually connected externally as a source follower buffer with the drain heavily decoupled, and you can implement a simple detector with an LM358 dual op-amp and a discrete transistor threshold detector.
Also they detect far infra-red around 10 micron not the near infra-red as used in remote controls, two-element PIRs need to be mounted so the target movement is across the two elements one after the other - they're nowhere near as sensitive to movement at 90º. Due to the two elements in opposition they detect moving changes in temperature* which can mean colder as well as warmer, and the Fresnel lenses are moulded in HDPE.
* Actually it's changes in IR energy received, which can be down to temperature and/or emissivity of the target.
Hi Graham. Found your comment very interesting. I want to make a simple PIR circuit for Arduino that sends a pulse or toggles a digital line every time movement is sensed (with no retriggering - the arduino code will handle that).
You mentioned an LM358 and a transistor. How simple can the circuit be that connects to an Arduino's digital input? Are we talking three components?
+Mat Smith It's a lot more than just three components. The LM358 etc is just the starting point - there's something like 20-30 other components needed. Believe me you're far better off using one of these modules than rolling your own.
I don't know much about electronics, but where can you get an emitter (the one you connected the output, negative and LEDs negative with)? I have had no luck so far
You're looking for an NPN transistor. Depending where you are in the world it may be able to get a BC547 or 2N3904. These are very cheap and common low power transistors. You can also buy them on eBay. Note that different transistors have the emitter, collector and base on different pins so you have to check online to see which pinout your transistor style has.
Hi sir
Thank you for your interesting video and I am thinking applying it for my car. How is schematic looks like to use 12v car battery as a source to drive a horn (similar car's horn) as a siren?
Thank you in advance for your advice.
If they are effected by a warm body passing in front of the sensors why then does moving grass etc. set them off?
Anything that can cause a heat disturbance or reflect heat can trigger a PIR. But it usually requires a large temperature difference like an animal.
How much current PIR Sensor takes ?