Ghost Adventures, Odd Fellows Asylum - Wireless Movement Sensor

Wireless Movement Sensor

It’s always great to work with Zak and the guys because they allow me to create new gear and push the boundaries. The Wireless Movement Sensor is a leap forward in paranormal sensors. It can run stand alone or stream data to be remotely monitored / controlled.

Goals of the Wireless Movement Sensor:

Sometimes we need to just try for plain hard data. Real time data aids the investigation by adding collaborative information.

For this device we really wanted to move toward a more autonomous remote monitoring system. If we can remotely monitor it enables an area to be totally free of interference and accidental triggers thus we can attempt to capture clean event data as it actually happened.

We wanted to create a setup where at a glance the room and any recent changes could be seen and noted quickly. In addition we wanted to be able to remotely change the sensors alarms and configuration without disturbing the area the sensor is in.

How the Wireless Sensor works:

The Wireless Movement Senor reads temperature, light levels and passive inferred movement. When sensors detects changes it triggers both audio and visual alarms.

The heart of the sensor is a small microprocessor that scans and tracks all inputs. Each value is monitored and compared to the previous sample to make sure nothing has changed enough to trigger an alarm. If the sensor is remotely connected the data is sent over the wireless connection to the remote monitoring station. The alarms settings can be remotely turned OFF/ON along with sensitivity levels. These remote configuration abilities enable the crew to adapt to environmental changes in the room.

Temperature is monitored using IR. Distance is measured by using a sonic sound pulse. Light levels are tracked by intensity and movement is monitored by the use of a PIR device “Passive inferred ”

The sensor has a visible alarm that flashes on the top of the unit and a speaker mounted on the bottom for audible alarm.
Either alarm can be activated or disabled depending on the needs of the investigation.

How the Wireless Movement Sensor was made:

This device is built from a combination of laser cut parts and 3D printed parts to create the shell and housing. Powered by a LiPo battery the sensor runs for 12 hours on a single charge. A custom circuit board was constructed to connect the sensors and microprocessor.

The build was roughly 70 hours from concept to finished device.