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Choosing a sensor for detecting swimming pool entry

pettitda

I'm looking for ideas on how to sense when a person or animal has entered a swimming pool.  There are several devices on the market that claim to do this, but the reviews are all pretty horrible.  False positives seem to be a big problem with existing products.  I'm thinking that something like an infrared camera would work but it would take considerable effort to set up the detection area (i.e. where the pool is) in the camera's view.  Does anyone have an idea that's not prone to false positives (i.e. leaves falling in the pool, wind blown water, etc)? 

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  • Look at the new Grideye or the new TI Time of Flight IR sensors.

     

    Both should cover the area you are looking for with the sensitivity you need.

     

    DAB

  • in reply to DAB

    I looked at the grid-eye sensor and the range was only 16 foot.  I'm hoping to cover a 27 foot diameter pool.  Perhaps it could be done with multiple sensors. 

  • in reply to pettitda

    I have an interesting thought.

     

    Why not go with a capacitive sensor, I am thinking about the new TI sense board I have been testing.

     

    You could run a conductive strip around the pool and then connect it as a sensor to the board.  No potential for short here as the sensor is passive.

     

    Anything that approaches to sensor edge will create a detection event.  The sensitivity of the device should cover the full range of your issues.  Plus you can set it up to resolve false detections and identify a full approach and cross sensor profile to look for.

     

    The other solution might be a webcam with change detection software to identify if anything enters the field of view around the pool.

     

    DAB

  • in reply to DAB

    Both ideas are nice DAB, but I see the webcam may have some potential issues like the point of view, availability of a support, different potential detections depending on the field where the event occurs (ok, you say it has just to detect yes/no...) etc. Instead the idea of the capacitive sensor seems better as passive, inexpensive and not-strictly size related. I think it is the worth for a deeper analysis.

     

    Enrico

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  • in reply to DAB

    Both ideas are nice DAB, but I see the webcam may have some potential issues like the point of view, availability of a support, different potential detections depending on the field where the event occurs (ok, you say it has just to detect yes/no...) etc. Instead the idea of the capacitive sensor seems better as passive, inexpensive and not-strictly size related. I think it is the worth for a deeper analysis.

     

    Enrico

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