Hardware & System Overview

Learn more about our hardware and system architecture.

IN THIS ARTICLE

Heatic sensor

Environmental requirements

Field of view and effective coverage

Sensor modes and fps

Sensor LED 

Hive

What is a Hive?

Hive specifications

Connectivity options

System

Network overview

Sensor and hive pairing

Frequently Asked Questions

Heatic Sensors

Hives


 

Heatic Sensor

What is a Heatic Sensor?

  • The Heatic Sensor uses thermopile arrays for people sensing. There is an array of pixels which outputs a low-resolution image of thermal data. By using algorithms to identify areas of body heat in this thermal image, Butlr provides more detailed and accurate information such as location and number of people (including if they are not moving), direction of motion, and (in development) even pose and fall detection.

  • Sensing technology comparison

    The Heatic Sensor can detect all sorts of presence, and is not limited to people in motion. Passive Infrared Sensors (PIR) allow you to sense motion, almost always used to detect whether a human has moved in or out of the sensors range. Butlr Heatic Sensors can successfully detect people sleeping, sitting and lying down and their location in the space— a PIR sensor cannot. Finally, the Heatic Sensor performs significantly better in more complicated spatial scenarios with significantly higher accuracy than PIR technology.

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Environmental requirements

  • Avoid direct sunlights
  • Indoor use

Field of view and effective coverage

Sensor modes and FPS

  • Determines the sensor’s functionality and configurations.
  • Activity: Provides real-time data on detections at 3 frames per second using the Butlr API’s occupancy endpoint. Detections are represented as purple dots.
  • Headcount: Provides real-time 'in' and 'out' traffic data at 5 frames per second using the Butlr API’s headcount endpoint. Detections represented by orange shades on the sensor grid.

Sensor LED

 

Color Indication

Flashing Pattern

Meaning

Blue Short flashing Sensor starts searching for network or disconnected from Hive
Green Solid for 3 seconds Sensor connected to Hive confirmation
Yellow Short flashing Sensor pairing mode: searching for network with default NetID 1229
White Short flashing for max 40 seconds When user click “Blink Sensor” in Hive UI to find the physical sensor in space

 

Hive

What is a Hive?

The Butlr Hive consists of a Single Board Computer interfaced to the Network Manager and LCD and powered by an external adapter. The Hive receives and processes all the data sent by the connected Heatic sensors via the Network Manager. It is connected to the cloud from which real time data can be viewed on the Butlr Platform.

Hive specifications

Single board computer (SBC) operating voltage 5V
SBC Core Quad core cortex A-72, 64 bit SOC @ 1.5Ghz
SBC RAM 2 GB
SBC Interfaces 802.11 b/g/n/ac Wireless LAN
LCD DIsplay Size 3 x 2 inches
Touch technology Resistive

Connectivity options

  • Wifi
  • Ethernet
  • LTE Modem

 

System

Network Overview

Heatic Hive and Sensors will form a mesh network when successfully connected. The system works best when the distance between devices (from Hive to Sensors or from one sensor to another) is within 33 feet (10 meters).

Sensor and Hive pairing

  • NetID and Device groups

    Each preconfigured device group consists of one Hive paired with a number of specific sensors. Sensors can only connect to the Hive they have been paired with. All devices in the same group share the same unique Network ID (which can be found on the label on the back of each device).
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*For large deployment, for easy identification and installation , each device group has color-coded stickers and has been packed separately.

  • Max Sensor network formation

    To achieve the best real-time performance, each Hive should not be connected to more than 12 sensors.

    Specifically, the frame rate limit per device group is 36 frames per second. Headcount sensor is set to 5 FPS, Activity sensor is set to 3 FPS. We recommending grouping devices based on proximity.

    • The Hive can support a maximum of 36 packets/second for the entire network
    • Depending on the configuration of the sensor, below is the formula we can use to calculate maximum number of sensors allowed: 5x + 3y + 0.125z < 36:

    Where, x = No. of Headcount sensors y = No. of Activity sensors z = No. of Repeaters (NOTE: To ensure network reliability, we don’t exceed 36 packets/second for the entire network)

Frequently Asked Questions

Heatic Sensors

    Hives