Unity Sensor
Unity Sensor
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Features:
- Human Presence Sensor (moving and still)
- Temperature Sensor
- Humidity Sensor
- Ambient Light Sensor
- RGB LED
- I²C STEMMA QT/Qwiic Connector
- 6 Additional GPIO's
- Wi-Fi
- Bluetooth BLE
- USB-C
- Small Form Factor (4cm x 2cm)
- Home Assistant/ESPHome Ready
- Open-source Code
- Easily Reprogrammable (example code provided)
Introducing the one sensor all home automation enthusiasts need. Compatible with ESPHome and Home Assistant, the Unity sensor is a 40mmx20mm board that features an ESP32 (Wi-Fi and BT BLE) with temperature, humidity, ambient lighting, and human presence sensors. Included is an RGB LED with a pin out that allows you to chain more addressable LEDs. If the board does not have exactly what you need then extend it using the spare GPIO pins!
The board is equipped with an I²C STEMMA QT/Qwiic connector giving you access to a whole marketplace of add-ons.
There are also 6 spare I/O ports, all with PWM capabilities. The board also exposes +5V/+3.3V power pins.
To power the board you can use USB-C, or you can use the 5V pin.
Unity comes pre-installed and configured with ESPHome, so all you need to do is enter your Wi-Fi details and you'll be up and running.
The board can easily be reprogrammed with your own code by simply holding down the boot button while connecting to a computer via USB-C.
Board Revision v2:
- The positions of the temperature/humidity sensor and the light sensor have been swapped.
Getting Started
Setup instructions and example code for Unity board can be found here:
https://github.com/LoopOnCode/UnitySensor
Pin Out Diagram
Sensor Specifications
Sensor | Min | Max | Unit |
Temperature | -40 | 125 | °C |
Humidity | 0 | 100 | % |
Ambient Light | 1 | 65535 | lx |
Human Presence Detection Angle | -60 | +60 | ° |
Human Presence Distance | 6 |
m |
Human Presence Detection
The human presence detection sensor uses millimetre wave radar technology to accurately identify the presence of human bodies in motion or in a stationary state; within the detection zone. This can greatly enhance home automation rules that depend on a person being in a room rather than motion in a room. For example, turn on the lights if someone is in the room.
This type technology can penetrate thin walls and does not require a line of sight to work, unlike traditional PIR motion sensors. This means the Unity sensor can be hidden while maintaining its abilities. Additionally, unlike PIR sensors, this technology is not prone to becoming unreliable due to changes in temperature.
GPIO
Extension Pins
Pin | Type | ADC/RTC | PU/PD | PWM |
GPIO0 | In/Out | Yes | Yes | Yes |
GPIO1 | In/Out | Yes | Yes | Yes |
GPIO3 | In/Out | Yes | Yes | Yes |
GPIO4 | In/Out | Yes | Yes | Yes |
GPIO7 | In/Out | Yes | Yes | |
GPIO10 | In/Out | Yes | Yes |
ADC: these pins can be used as ADC inputs
RTC: these pins are RTC GPIOs and can be used in deep-sleep mode
PU/PD: these pins have software configurable pull-up/pull-down functionality.
Misc
Pin | Type |
GPIO2 | RGB LED |
GPIO5 | I²C SDA |
GPIO6 | I²C SCL |
Power
Pin | Type |
+5V | In/Out (max. 5V) |
+3.3V | Out only |
Ambient Light Sensor I²C Address
The BH1750 I²C address can be altered if it conflicts with another I²C component you have added to the board. To do this, you must solder the ADDR pad.
Addresses:
- Unsoldered: 0x23
- Soldered: 0x5C
ESP32
At the heart of the Unity board is an ESP32-C3F with 4MByte of flash running at a clock speed of 160MHz. It has 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5 (LE) connectivity.
Datasheets
- Humidity & Temperature Sensor - HDC1080
- Ambient Light Sensor - BH1750
- Human Presence Sensor - HLK-LD2410
- Addressable RGB LED - WS2812B
- MCU - ESP32-C3F
This little board has such a mix of sensors and capabilities, and is close to my idea of the 'ultimate' IOT board.
I am still testing it and its possible use cases, but forsee that this will not be my last unity sensor in my smart home arsenal.
Requires fine-tuning of sensitivity levels but works well.
A really nice little device. Works as expected without issue.
If you run Home Assistant, having reliable presence detection will unlock a world of automation possibilities. The Unity Sensor does this incredibly well, and more.
It's a Christmas present...
Not opened yet!