It’s hard to tell when a room on another floor, or across the building is occupied or vacant. At Adafruit we have a popular meeting room however sometimes it’s being used and if you want to have a meeting, you have to wait or go somewhere else. How handy would it be if we had a public dashboard to view if the room is occupied? Using an Adafruit FunHouse board, a infrared PIR sensor, and AdafruitIO WipperSnapper, we can make it happen.

PIR sensor installed in the meeting room
PIR sensor installed in the meeting room

Additionally, in the bonus section, you can install a status light to add a layer of visibility to the room’s occupancy status.

Prerequisite Guide:

WipperSnapper is an interface for Adafruit IO, Adafruit's incredibly easy-to-use IoT platform, designed to turn any WiFi-capable board into an IoT device without programming a single line of code.

If you've never used WipperSnapper, click below to read through the Quickstart WipperSnapper guide before continuing.

Parts

Adafruit Parts:

Top-down video of Adafruit Funhouse PCB. The TFT display shows a data readout, and the NeoPixel LEDs glow rainbow colors.
Home is where the heart is...it's also where we keep all our electronic bits. So why not wire it up with sensors and actuators to turn our house into an electronic wonderland....
$34.95
In Stock
PIR (motion) sensor with a cable around it.
PIR sensors are used to detect motion from pets/humanoids from about 20 feet away (possibly works on zombies, not guaranteed). This one has an adjustable delay before firing (approx...
$9.95
In Stock
Snap-action 3-Wire Block Connector with two wires installed
These are like the fancy electronics equivalent of the wire nuts electricians use to bind wires together. They are a lot easier to use as well! Each block connector has a metal block...
$2.95
In Stock
Premium Male/Male Jumper Wires - 20 x 6 (150mm) folded over
These Male/Male Jumper Wires are handy for making wire harnesses or jumpering between headers on PCB's. These premium jumper wires are 6" (150mm) long and come in a...
$1.95
In Stock
USB Type A to Type C Cable - approx 1 meter / 3 ft long
As technology changes and adapts, so does Adafruit. This  USB Type A to Type C cable will help you with the transition to USB C, even if you're still...
$4.95
In Stock
5V 2A Switching Power Supply with  USB-A Connector
Our 5V 2A USB power adapter is the perfect choice for powering single-board computers like Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone, or anything else that's power-hungry!This adapter was...
$7.95
In Stock
Angled shot of STEMMA JST PH 3-Pin to Female Header Cable - 200mm.
This cable will let you turn a JST PH 3-pin cable port into 3 individual wires with high-quality 0.1" female header sockets on the end. We're carrying these to match up with...
$1.25
In Stock
1 x Protective Glasses
Anti-Fog - Honeywell S200A

Other materials needed:

  • A piece of cardboard sized 2" x 7" or larger. The thicker cardboard the better. This will be used to mount the PIR sensor.
  • A box cutter
  • A pen or pencil
  • A mat to cut cardboard on
  • Single-sided scotch tape or similar
  • Double-sided tape OR thumb tacks

Parts for the status light (optional):

LED Ring Light with metal 76mm Diameter body, lit up
This LED Ring Light is designed for use with microscopes but we kinda like the design and think it could be a really nice LED element for costuming or lighting effects...
$17.95
In Stock
Top view of a black power supply with barrel jack.
This is a really nice power supply. It's a switching DC supply so it's small and light and efficient. It is thin so it fits in power strips without blocking other outlets. The...
$8.95
In Stock
Demo lamp connected to a circuit playground and a Stemma with alligator clips.
STEMMA plug-and-play parts make your next project soldering-free! This is the STEMMA Non-Latching Mini Relay. It gives you power to control, and control over...
$6.95
In Stock
Angled shot of JST PH 3-pin Plug-Plug Cable - 100mm long.
This cable is a little over 100mm / 4" long and fitted with JST-PH 3-pin connectors on either end. We dig the solid and compact nature of these connectors and the...
$0.75
In Stock
2.1mm DC Barrel Jack cable with Alligator Clip ends
Turn a wall adapter into a mini power supply with this incredibly useful adapter. A high quality molded 2.1mm DC barrel jack is brought out to red (center positive) & black (ring...
$1.95
In Stock
Front shot of a 2.1mm DC Barrel Plug to Alligator Clips.
Turn any battery pack into a power supply with this incredibly useful adapter. A high quality molded 2.1mm DC barrel plug is brought out to red (center positive) & black (ring...
$1.95
In Stock

For the lighting connections to the Stemma relay, you can choose:

Hook-up Wire Spool Set in box with 6 colorful wires coming out
Perfect for bread-boarding, free wiring, etc. This box contains 6 spools of solid-core wire. The wire is easy to solder to and when bent it keeps its shape pretty well. We like to have...
$15.95
In Stock

Which will require:

Closed Multi-size wire stripper  and wire cutter
We've upgraded our basic 'adjustable' wire strippers to these multi-sized wire strippers. They include: 20-30 AWG strippers, wire cutters, 'plier' tips, and a wire...
$6.95
In Stock

OR keep things simple with:

Angled shot of Premium Male/Male Jumper Wires - 40 x 6 (150mm)
Handy for making wire harnesses or jumpering between headers on PCB's. These premium jumper wires are 6" (150mm) long and come in a 'strip' of 40 (4 pieces of each of...
$3.95
In Stock

This guide was first published on Nov 24, 2021. It was last updated on Nov 24, 2021.

This page (Overview) was last updated on Nov 16, 2021.

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