How to Create Zones

Overview

Home Assistant supports zones, allowing you to track specific locations within a room or space. With zones, you can automate actions based on precise movement—for example, triggering one automation when someone sits on the living room sofa and another when they walk into the kitchen.

Installing the Everything Presence Zone Configurator Add-on

The Everything Presence Zone Configurator provides a visual tool for creating and managing zones. To install the add-on:

  1. Open Home Assistant and navigate to the Add-on Store.

  2. Add the Everything Presence repository by clicking the link (Open Add-On Store of Home Assistant) or manually entering the following URL:

    • https://github.com/EverythingSmartHome/everything-presence-addons

  3. Refresh the page and locate the Everything Presence Zone Configurator.

  4. Select the add-on and click Install.

  5. Once installed, click Start, then select Open Web UI to launch the Zone Configurator Dashboard.

Installing with Docker (Advanced)

If you are not using Home Assistant Supervisor, you can install the configurator using Docker:

Docker Run Example

docker run -d -e HA_URL=http://HA_URL:8123 -e HA_TOKEN=LONG_LIVE_TOKEN -p 8099:8099 --name everything-presence-mmwave-configurator everythingsmarthome/everything-presence-mmwave-configurator:latest

Docker Compose Example

services:
  zones:
    ports:
      - 8099:8099
    image: everythingsmarthome/everything-presence-mmwave-configurator:latest
    container_name: everything-presence-mmwave-configurator
    environment:
      - HA_URL=http://10.0.1.11:8123
      - HA_TOKEN=YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN

Using the Everything Presence Zone Configurator

Selecting a Device

  1. Open the Zone Configurator Dashboard.

  2. Use the dropdown in the top-left corner to select an Everything Presence Lite device.

  3. View real-time tracking data in the visual interface.

Understanding the Dashboard

  • Tracking Information Box: Displays the current position (X/Y coordinates), speed, angle, and distance of detected targets.

  • Radar View: Provides a top-down perspective of the tracked area.

    • The Everything Presence Lite device is centered at the top.

    • Red dots represent tracked targets.

    • Grid lines indicate 1m increments for reference.

  • User Zones Box: Displays manually drawn zones with corresponding coordinates.

  • Stop Refresh Button: Pauses real-time updates for precise configuration.

Creating a Zone

  1. Click on the radar map and drag to define a rectangular zone.

  2. Adjust positioning by hovering over and dragging the created zone.

  3. Up to four zones can be configured.

  4. Click Save Zones to store the configuration in Home Assistant.

Zones 2-4 are disabled by default and will not save in the Zone Configurator until they are enabled. See Enabling Zones below

Optimizing Zone Placement

For accurate zones:

  • Ensure only one person moves during calibration.

  • Stand opposite the sensor and mark the top-left corner of the desired zone.

  • Walk to that corner, then click Stop Refresh.

  • Adjust the zone size and click Start Refresh.

  • Walk to the bottom-right corner and repeat the process.

  • Expand the zone to encompass both marked points.

  • Save changes before exiting.

Managing Zones

Enabling Zones 2-4

By default, only Zone 1 is enabled, to help keep the number of active entities down a little. To enable zones 2-4, in Home Assistant, head over to Settings > Devices and Services, ESPHome, everything-presence-lite-xxxxxx.

Next, in the “Controls” section, scroll down until you find the “Disabled Enities” button:

Click this to reveal the entities for Zones 2-4. We need to enable all the entities for a zone to make it work and there are 5 entities per zone:

  • Zone 2 Begin X

  • Zone 2 Begin Y

  • Zone 2 End X

  • Zone 2 End Y

  • Zone 2 Occupancy Off Delay

And the same for zone 3 and 4.

To enable each zone, click an entity, then hit the cog on the popup and hit enable. Then repeat this for each zone entity you want to enable.

Deleting a Zone

  • Right-click a user-defined zone and confirm deletion.

Saving Zones

  • When adding new zones, redraw existing zones first to retain them.

  • Unsaved zones will be lost upon saving new ones.

By following these steps, you can efficiently set up and manage zones in Home Assistant using Everything Presence Lite.