I’m currently trying to read a digital pin (2) on the Arduino when it’s HIGH/LOW from a Parallax PIR sensor. The setup is basically this without the piezo: http://makeprojects.com/Project/PIR+Sensor+Arduino+Alarm/72/1#.UIrppGl26A1

I’ve tried using Maxuino, Arduino2Max and even the SensorBox but to no avail. Does anyone know if the PIR sensor can be read with just the setup above? Or am I going to need to do something else hardware wise? Also, do I have to include code like PIRsense (http://www.arduino.cc/playground/Code/PIRsense) with the Firmata or SensorBox code in order to read the PIR?

Hope that makes sense. I’ve tried inquiring over at the Arduino forums too but feel like there has to be someone on the forums here who has done this.

http://guide-images.makeprojects.org/igi/wCMlmK5wTNxgOPiw.huge

on digPin2, then upload this code to your board:

int inPin=2;
int pirVal=0;

void setup(){
pinMode(inPin, INPUT);
Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop(){
pirVal=digitalRead(inPin);
Serial.print(pirVal);
}

and use the serial monitor window to verify that all is ok. More sophisticated code for checking change of state is here:

http://make-documents.s3.amazonaws.com/fv1fYSLfy6QRgANM.pdf

To send the 1 or 0 to Max, change

Serial.print(pirVal);

to either

Serial,print(pirVal, BYTE);

or

Serial.write(pirVal);//if using latest version of Arduino IDE.

Bang the [serial] object in Max and you should see the data there, assuming you’ve matched baud rate and identified the correct port etc.

Search this forum for “Maxuino” and “Arduino2Max”; you’ll find that, in this situation, it is often better to roll your own patches than rely on prefabs like these – although SensorBox receives no complaints about usability/reliability. I personally don’t use any of them cos I’m total-n00bish and prefer to troubleshoot/hack my own code rather than someone else’s slightly more arcane/detailed code.

Brendan