Sensing Movement Lesson 12

[fremenusul]

I have all the materials and equipment for http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruits-ras ... t/overview

I have followed the walk through exactly but I am getting a "Door alarm" message even though my reed switch is closed. The PIR seems to work so I disconnected it (and commented out the code).

I am very new to Pi, electronics and this whole experience.

[fremenusul]

Has anyone been able to actually make this lesson work?

[adafruit_support_mike]

We test all our tutorials to make sure they work before publishing them. Most people don't post to the help forum when a project works.

Post a photo of your hardware and connections and we'll see what we can find.

[fremenusul]

In GRND and pin 23.

[adafruit_support_mike]

Try disconneting the reed switch and running the script again. Let's make sure it returns the correct value when there's no connection.

[fremenusul]

When disconnected it is giving me "Door Alarm" which doesn't seem right to me.

[adafruit_support_mike]

That's what's it's supposed to do. This line:

Code: Select all

io.setup(door_pin, io.IN, pull_up_down=io.PUD_UP)  # activate input with PullUp

connects an internal resistor to the GPIO pin. When there's nothing connected to door_pin, its voltage will be HIGH. That will pass the test in this line:

Code: Select all

    if io.input(door_pin):

and cause the code to print "DOOR ALARM!"

Take a look at the last line on this page of the tutorial: http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruits-ras ... t/software

Remember that the door switch warning will be activated when the magnet is removed from the sensor rather than the other way around.

[fremenusul]

Ok, so if nothing is connected the pin is HIGH.

The issue I have is no matter if the reed switch is next to the magnet or not, I get Door alarm. It never switches back to LOW.

[adafruit_support_mike]

That means we need to test the switch. Disconnect it from the breadboard and test the resistance through it with the magnet far away, then with the magnet right up against the switch enclosure. You should see zero resistance when the magnet is far way, and infinite resistance when the magnet is close.

[fremenusul]

Its acutally the opposite.

I get .6 ohm when connected and infinite when they are not connected.

[adafruit_support_mike]

Could you post a photo of that please? From your description, it sounds like you have a normally-open reed switch being closed by the magnet, not a normally-closed reed switch being opened by the magnet.