Arduino With PIR Motion Sensor - Random Nerd Tutorials

In this project you’re going to create a simple circuit with an Arduino and PIR motion sensor that can detect movement. An LED will light up when movement is detected.

Watch the video below to see how it works

Introducing the PIR Motion Sensor

The PIR motion sensor is ideal to detect movement. PIR stand for “Passive Infrared”. Basically, the PIR motion sensor measures infrared light from objects in its field of view.

So, it can detect motion based on changes in infrared light in the environment. It is ideal to detect if a human has moved in or out of the sensor range.

The sensor in the figure above has two built-in potentiometers to adjust the delay time (the potentiometer at the left) and the sensitivity (the potentiometer at the right).

Pinout

Wiring the PIR motion sensor to an Arduino is pretty straightforward – the sensor has only 3 pins.

• GND – connect to ground
• OUT – connect to an Arduino digital pin
• 5V – connect to 5V

Parts required

Here’s the required parts for this project

• 1x PIR Motion Sensor (HC-SR501)
• Arduino UNO – read Best Arduino Starter Kits
• 1x LED
• Jumper Cables

You can use the preceding links or go directly to MakerAdvisor.com/tools to find all the parts for your projects at the best price!

Schematics

Assemble all the parts by following the schematics below.

Code

Upload the following code.

/* Arduino with PIR motion sensor For complete project details, visit: http://RandomNerdTutorials.com/pirsensor Modified by Rui Santos based on PIR sensor by Limor Fried */ int led = 13; // the pin that the LED is atteched to int sensor = 2; // the pin that the sensor is atteched to int state = LOW; // by default, no motion detected int val = 0; // variable to store the sensor status (value) void setup() { pinMode(led, OUTPUT); // initalize LED as an output pinMode(sensor, INPUT); // initialize sensor as an input Serial.begin(9600); // initialize serial } void loop(){ val = digitalRead(sensor); // read sensor value if (val == HIGH) { // check if the sensor is HIGH digitalWrite(led, HIGH); // turn LED ON delay(100); // delay 100 milliseconds if (state == LOW) { Serial.println("Motion detected!"); state = HIGH; // update variable state to HIGH } } else { digitalWrite(led, LOW); // turn LED OFF delay(200); // delay 200 milliseconds if (state == HIGH){ Serial.println("Motion stopped!"); state = LOW; // update variable state to LOW } } }

View raw code

Wrapping Up

This post shows a simple example on how to use the PIR motion sensor with the Arduino. Now, you can use the PIR motion sensor in more advanced projects. For example, you can build a Night Security Light project.

If you’re an absolute beginner, and you’re just getting started, we recommend taking a look at our Free Arduino Mini Course.

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