smart home setup hardware help

[u/PanPioter_]

what mmWave sensor would you guys recommend? I'm trying to make a smart home setup (for now just turning lights on/off when it gets dark but I'm planning on making an app for my phone that'd let me control the lights) as a fun project to work on in my free time and I'm seeing a lot of options but probably the best one I found is "Indoor Fall Detection Sensor - C1001". I'm also looking for a module that'd let me connect some things wirelessly to the main board like the sensor itself. and most importantly, will arduino uno R3 be enough for a system like that?

[u/gm310509]

You need to provide more details and clarity.

For example, you asked what mmwave sensor should you use? To do what? At the end of the day the answer is to use one that supports what you need to do.

My guess is that you are fairly new to all of this, if so, then I would strongly suggest that you get yourself a starter kit and learn the basics.

As for connecting things wirelessly, there are plenty of options, wifi, Bluetooth, nrf24l01, xbee and many many more. Again, you need to select based upon what you need. Two things to consider when selecting include:

• power consumption as likely you will want to run them off a battery.
• intelligence.

There is no such thing as a "connect a sensor wirelessly". You need an MCU to take readings from the sensor then transmist them. Some modules like XBee can be programmed to read external sensors and relay the data via pre-installed code. This would be the closest to "connecting a sensor wirelessly".

With out detailed requirements, it is hard to say what is suitable. Asking if an uno r3 is suitable for a project like this is the classic "cart before the horse" mistake. The uno R3 (in a starter kit) will be suitable for you to learn enough to define your project. Once you define your project you will have a feel for what you need in terms of IO connections and formats as well as a feel for what sort of volume of data you need to process and then you can make an assessment as to what sort of hardware you might need.

I get that my response might come across as a bit harsh, that is not my intention. But, all computer projects thrive from details and clarity which requires some basic knowledge to start formulating.

[u/PanPioter_ → u/gm310509]

I don't think your response is harsh. at the time I wrote this I thought that I provided enough info about the project but now that I read it again, I see that I left out some important things.

- for the wireless connection I thought about something like sticking the sensor powered by batteries to the ceiling of my room and it'd transmit the information about someone being in the room wirelessly to the main board instead of running long patch of wires along my walls and the ceiling.

- I'd also need something simmilar for servos that'd switch the lights (I know that there are already finished systems like that but as I stated before, this is just a fun project to work on in my free time that I now have loads of. also, I'm unable to change the switch to the wireless ones because of how my room was designed).

additionally, I'm planning on wiping my old laptop and installing ubuntu on there to have it as a controller and a medium between arduino and the phone app I'll make for it