Proximity sensing is a very common application in electronics. There are several ways to accomplish this. The most common way is by using a PIR sensor. PIR Sensor senses the change in ambient infrared radiation caused by warm bodies. I have already covered this in my Tutorial No. 5: "PIR Sensor Tutorial - With or Without Arduino". However, since PIR sensors detect movement from living objects, they can generate false alarms. These sensors are also inefficient in hot environments, as they rely on heat signatures.
The other common methods of proximity sensing involve, using reflected ultrasonic or light beams. Using these sensors, the intruding object is detected by the reflected beam back to its source. The time delay between transmission and reception is measured to calculate the distance to the object. In this tutorial, we are going to look at another method of proximity sensing using "Microwaves" and "Doppler Effect". In my hand is an inexpensive RCWL-0516 Microwave Radar Motion Sensor. The RCWL-0516 microwave sensor detects "any movement" from "any object" and does not rely on heat, making it more reliable in hot environments. I am going to use this sensor to create a Geo-fence around my house to detect motion and get notifications.
