Imagine an 87 year old living in Duluth Minnesota walking out on her porch and surprising a Bear. It could give quite a shock. This was precisely what worried an instructor at Orange Coast College whose aunt lived at that secluded home in Minnesota. While many people have animals move around them at night, her home is especially treacherous with large bears that frequently pass by the front door. The instructor decided to let his construction technology students tackle this problem with a home automation project.

The Assignment: Create a solution using programing to turn a Phillips hue red if a bear has been seen in the last 15 minutes and amber if the bear has been seen in the last 15 to 60 minutes and green if its been over an hour. The camera trigger can be found in the ISY

His class got access to the video feeds of the home in Minnesota that feature many types up animals. However they needed a way to distinguish the deer and other animals from bears. This is where Camect became useful. Camect can detect many types of animals including deer, squirrels, raccoons, skunks, dogs, cats, birds, mice, foxes, and bears.

So, the class used a Camect at the site of the home to handle detections. They also used a Phillips Hue LED to change color when a bear is detected, and ISY Home Automation Platform. The algorithm needed to change the LED light when a bear is detected, but also continue to stay yellow for 15 minutes to make sure the bear had enough time to leave the area.

When the students solved the algorithm then they were able to verify it with a live bear detection by Camect: