Sensor suggestion for outdoor human detection with Teensy 3.2

[dangerJ]

Hi !

I'm seeking your advice to find a sensor to use with a Teensy 3.2 for outdoor human detection.

What I'm trying to do

So basically I have multiple microcontroller (a few Teensy 3.2) communicating together with radio frequency. I'd want to have a master device send requests to the slave when it detects someone in a specific range of the device (1-3 meters away). The microcontrollers are enclosed in waterproof casing and are outside all year long except for winter season.

Desired sensor requirement

I'd want the sensor to be able to do the following :

• Detect someone outdoor in a range of 1 to 3 meters ;
• Output a variable distance : I don't want it to be a motion sensor ;
• Be waterproof ;

The current setup

Here's a list of everything I'd want this sensor to work with :

• A Teensy 3.2
• A Teensy 3.1 XBee Adapter
• A Xbee2 S2C RF Tranceiver

Sensor I've already tried

I've already done some test with a MaxBotix 7363 (which is an ultrasonic sensor) with mixed results, the reading being super noisy even with a power filter.

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Feel free to ask me for more details.
Sorry for my bad English and thank you for your help!

 

[Deleted User]

A radar sensor. You get information about distance and relative speed. So, if distance shortens below a defined threshold, there is something or somebody. Also you can see if the one comes or goes.
There are plenty on the market, not exactly for Arduino, but a low cost automotive bumper radar could do fine.

Or https://www.infineon.com/cms/en/product/sensor/radar-image-sensors/radar-sensors/radar-sensors-for-consumer-and-iot/ for example.

 

[dangerJ]

Hi! Thanks for the suggestion!

Do you know of any radar sensor that is "ready to interface" with the Teensy? My current workplace facilities does not have the resource to build a waterproof sensor from scratch and I can't find anything at digikey that fits my need.

The only thing I've found that is getting close to what you proposed was a Garmin LIDAR (Litev3HP) but i've read on spark fun that it still needs to be enclosed in a non-IR blocking plastic to prevent it from being exposed to the elements.