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Wellbeing monitor I needed a device that could monitor the welfare of a senior family member living alone to supplement regular phone calls. The circuit I came up with reports hourly movement activity. A smartphone notification message is sent if movement is below a threshold for defined active hours. Movement events are recorded hourly to an SD card and can be reviewed to establish normal activity patterns, and thus identify any significant changes. It comprises a passive infrared sensor (Jaycar Cat XC4444), an ESP8266 WiFi module (Jaycar XC3802 or WeMos D1 mini), a micro SD card shield (Jaycar XC3852) and a few other components. The wiring is elementary, as the SD shield plugs into the ESP8266 module. The unit connects to an available WiFi network and uses the Blynk IoT application that will work on most smart devices wherever an internet connection is available. When the PIR senses movement, its output pulls digital input pin D1 of the ESP8266 high. The number of these events are counted each hour, and if the number is less than a preset value between certain hours, a notification is sent to a family member. Thus alerted, the family can contact the senior by phone, or visit, or inform a neighbour. The total movement events per hour are also logged to an SD card file that can be reviewed online and graphed for the current or any previous day. The LED flashes briefly when movement is detected, and when the PIR resets after the timeout delay. The PIR timeout pot should be set to about 10 62 Silicon Chip several keywords such as “H” to show the help, “S” for settings, “L” for the hourly event log, “ST” for statistics of the previous 35 days and more. Notifications can be temporarily turned off for a number of hours using preset buttons, or for longer times in the modify settings option. There is also an hourly blackout option to cease notifications for individual hours. Configuration seconds, and the sensitivity pot to about midrange. While the PIR module operates from 5V it outputs at 3.3V, for compatibility with the I/O pins of the ESP8266. The remote device runs the Blynk IoT platform with a basic software interface comprising the main Terminal screen with RTC and Notification Widgets, two Value Displays, two Tabs and five Buttons to disable and re-enable notifications. The second screen has a chart that plots total and daily movement events against time. If the available internet service has limited monthly data allowance, then a limited data option can be set. This activates the WiFi only for a 90 second period if an alarm message is required, and also once a day when a status message is sent that confirms the system is functional, allowing the user to remotely interrogate the hourly movement events for the day. The terminal screen understands Australia’s electronics magazine A web page-based configuration is provided on first power up after loading the software sketch. It permits selection of an existing WiFi network, the network password, the Blynk Authorisation Token and the text for two notification messages (the monitored person’s name and a ‘not OK’ message.) This means that the WiFi and Blynk connection parameters do not have to be hardcoded into the sketch. The settings are then saved to EEPROM and are loaded on bootup. Other settings are changed using the modify settings option in the terminal screen. See the user manual for more details of installing, setting up and using the Wellbeing Monitor (available for download from siliconchip.com. au/Shop/6/5680). A QR Code download is also provided to quickly recreate a copy of the Blynk Project. If you have Blynk already on your smart device, open the app, log in, create a new project then tap on the QR Code icon next to the info icon at the top right of the project page. Then scan the QR Code for this project using the device camera. Phillip Webb, Hope Valley, SA. ($100) siliconchip.com.au