An easy way to know if someone is sitting on a chair?

[Guest]

I would like to put something on my kitchen chairs. So that when someone is on the chair I know it.

I would use (among other things) that as a condition for ‘filtering the action ‘’turn off the kitchen lighs’’.

would do the same for my office chair. And maybe my sofa in the living room .

[Corvl1]

I just bought a pressure pad to hook up with a fibaro universal sensor.

Maybe also an idea for the chair.

Cor

[w.vuyk]

Check this thread, it might give you some ideas

Wim

[joegr]

There must be some easy and nearly invisible way to do it. Every time I settle into my recliner, someone shouts out that they need me to go somewhere to do something...
I've been looking for the sensor, but I haven't found it yet.

[drhtmal]

There must be some easy and nearly invisible way to do it. Every time I settle into my recliner, someone shouts out that they need me to go somewhere to do something...
I've been looking for the sensor, but I haven't found it yet.

It is possible that there is no single easy way to do this because there are so many variables. You mentioned chair but did not specify what type of chair.There are many types of chairs. Depending on the chair you might need a different type of sensor.

I have tall 4 leg wooden chairs without any sort of seat pad around my kitchen island. I could put a pressure sensor on the seat, but then I would have a pressure sensor on the seat that would be visible. Low WAF. I might be able to put some sort of pressure sensor on one of the 4 legs of the chair. and run the wires up the leg to the battery powered wireless device used to transmit the occupancy statue to my system. Wired running up the chair leg might not pass the WAF. The sensor would need to be calibrated to determine if there was a person in the chair rathe than a cat or a bunch of coats hung on the back of the chair. I have hardwood floors so calibration would not be too difficult. On carpet it might be more difficult to calibrate.

My padded office chair might be easier. I could tear apart the seat cushion and install some sort of pressure sensor and hind all the remaining parts under the chair.

What seems to be easy for a human to do -identify if any type chair is occupied- is not so simple for a reliable and cost effective machine to do.

[Kevb]

I placed a motion sensor underneath our dining table, facing down. It works pretty well at determining if someone is sitting there- I have it turn lights on in the morning, and keep others from turning off. Could work at a desk or kitchen island as well. I have the events occur during certain times if the house is "occupied" by people, as the cats set it off, too. I have a door sensor connected to a pressure mat, with the mat under the rug under a living room chair. The mat sends a signal when it senses 65 pounds, so only two legs are on the mat. It gives a lot of false positives, though, probably due to weight of chair, carpet, etc.

[Gadgetman!]

Motion sensors these days are 'thin film' and can be placed on top of a leg, under the seat. Anywhere two hard surfaces meet and there will be an increased pressure when weight is applied to the furniture.

[pcburcham]

Buy and install sound sensor > place snake(s) on furniture > screams activate sound sensor > lights turn on! Wait... ON the chair, hmm?

[pcburcham]

Sofas, rockers, etc have a broader range of possibilities. Just searching and found this interesting (not that you'd use it) https://www.instructables.com/id/In-...Z-wave-Pressu/

Kitchen chairs will be hard. Those thin pressure sensors w.vuyk referenced look really interesting.

[Michael McSharry]

not something I have tried but seems like obstacle recognition using ESP32 cam would solve the issue of hiding electronics in most chairs, albeit still need a nearby wall for discrete mounting.

vision is good enough for Tesla and animals so should be good enough for HA.

[pcburcham]

not something I have tried but seems like obstacle recognition using ESP32 cam would solve the issue of hiding electronics in most chairs, albeit still need a nearby wall for discrete mounting.

vision is good enough for Tesla and animals so should be good enough for HA.

That is very interesting! There is a really good walk-through (https://randomnerdtutorials.com/esp3...n-arduino-ide/) of setting up the cam too and the image looks impressive. Also looks like Espressif has a nice selection of boards and software for development also.