Anyone try to build a bed occupancy sensor integrated with Home Assistant? I’ve looked into load sensors but all of them seem to have pretty small weight limits (low enough to where I don’t think it would even support the empty bed).
What devices/sensors have you used for this? And what does your setup look like?
Aliexpress has load cells that go up to the hundreds of KGS. One of those, an esp32/pico and some wiring and you should be good to go?
This. I bought a few myself, but didn’t have time to put them together with ESP32/program them with ESPHome
Couldn’t find the exact one I ordered a few months ago, but this type of pressure sensor aliexpress link is apparently a common bed occupancy sensor type used when building medical beds for hospitals and care homes so staff can be alerted when a patient gets out of bed. I’m not sure the specific model I linked is quite right specs-wise, but the idea is that it goes on a slat or other surface between the matress and the frame that doesn’t necessarily get the full weight of the occupant, but still gets enough to measure on the sensor.
https://community.home-assistant.io/t/fsr-the-best-bed-occupancy-sensor/365795
This is the best write-up I’ve seen - essentially a force sensitive resistor on the bed slats and an ESP32 will get you the results you’re after.
I have an Aqara FP-2 doing just this thing. It works pretty well after setting up zones. Those get pulled into Home Assistant and then you can tie those to automations to control lamps or what have you.
I’ve got this setup: Two of those flat contact sensors that are designed to go under a mat, connected to an ESP32 running ESP Home. Some people use leak sensors with screw terminals instead of the ESP32 and attach the contact sensor that way. My use case is that we’ve got cats and motion sensors, so when everyone is in bed, the lights don’t react to the motion. Also, alarm system goes into night mode, any reminders before going to bed also fire. There are a set of rules about whether the doorbell can be heard in the bedroom, and also the light comes on in the night if someone gets up.
I’ve worked on such IOT devices for the hospital.
