ESPHome adds motion sensing through changes in Wi-Fi signals, allowing an ESP32 and an existing access point to detect movement without a separate motion sensor. ESPectre, previously supplied as an external component, joins the built-in components with motion readings, a movement score and a recalibration button.
Francesco Pace makes his first contribution to ESPHome with the integration, tested on six ESP32 chip variants. It measures how movement changes the paths taken by the Wi-Fi signal; it cannot reliably detect a person who stays still, so no movement does not mean the room is empty.
The component disables Wi-Fi power saving and changes packet handling, which can reduce throughput for other tasks on the same device, including audio and firmware uploads. J. Nick Koston, Jesse Hills and Jonathan Swoboda reviewed the implementation.