Difficulty: expert
Content
Learning Objectives
After reading this article, you’ll be able to:
- Understand Vergesense installation location, taking into account the detection area compared to ceiling height and the area you want to cover
A sensor plan for VergeSense devices will always be drawn up by the VergeSense team.
The below description already brings forward what is important to take into account.
Create sensor layout
As described in Prepare your sensor plan, you’ll need following elements to define where to place each sensor:
- information on ceiling heights
- latest floor plan with latest furniture drawings
- superposition Reflected Ceiling Plan (RCP) file
- ideally, pictures or videos of the location
Tip
Best practices recap
- Detection area is measured on floor level: any person standing on the edge of the detection area might not get picked up.
Avoid setting up count area at the edge of the detection area.
- It's a best practice to include 1.5.m coverage on all sides
- For meeting rooms: Because of the above mentioned edge of the detection area & because you never know how a room might be used in future, it's best practice that the detection area should cover the whole room, even if that means adding an additional sensor to the room
- Specific for VergeSense headcount sensors:
If more than 1 sensor is used to cover an area, these will need to be "stitched" together in the software. Allow an overlap of 0.5m in the detection area of 2 sensors that lie side-by-side and need to be stitched.
- 1 single sensor can take up to 8 count areas (remember this when you set up headcount sensors to track workplaces)
Define the Count Areas on your floor
Define the areas you want to monitor. We call these areas “Count Areas”. Do you want to know how many people are using a (closed) room at any given time? Or are you using Vergesense devices to track the occupancy of multiple desks?
Note
1 Vergesense device can only cover a maximum of 8 desks/workplace areas
(It’s not possible to configure more than 8 count areas in the Vergesense Platform)
Define the Detection Area of each sensor
A Vergesense device is always placed in the middle of its Detection Area, which is a rectangle of which the dimensions (length-width) on the ground are dependent on the installation height/ceiling height.
The detection area of one sensor can be calculated with the following formula:
- Length = 2.0 * mounting height
- Width = 1.678 * mounting height"
Installation height can be from 2.44m (8ft) to 3.66m (12ft).
The following table shows the Detection Area size for different sensor heights:
Installation Height |
Detection Area |
|---|---|
2.44m (8ft) |
4.8m x 4m = 19.3 sq.m. (16ft. x 13.4ft. = 214.8 sq.ft.) |
2.7m (9ft.) |
5.4m x 4.5m = 24.5 sq.m. (18ft. x 15.1ft. = 271.8 sq.ft.) |
3m (10ft.) |
6m x 5m = 30.2 sq.m. (20ft. x 16.8ft. = 335.6 sq.ft.) |
3.4m (11ft.) |
6.8m x 5.7m = 38.8 sq.m. (22ft. x 18.5ft. = 406.1 sq.ft.) |
3.66 (12ft.) |
3.7m x 7.4m = 45.9 sq.m. (24ft. x 20.1ft. = 483.3 sq.ft.) |
Combine Count Areas and Detection Areas on your Sensor Plan
Now that you have defined which areas you want to track occupancy on (count areas), and know the detection areas of the sensors, you can define how many Vergesense sensor devices are needed.
Info
The number and placements of the sensors that you deploy should ensure that your count areas are completely contained within the sensors’ detection areas.
Make sure you visit Prepare your sensor plan for more information and examples.
Define sensor installation location
The installation location of the Vergesense devices is linked to the height of the ceiling and dependent of any obstructions of large items (e.g. a projector hanging from the ceiling).
Determine the sensor's precise location according to the layout defined in the sensor layout process and the resulting floor plan (Sensor Plan). Sensors are displayed as circular icons on the floor plan, with an arrow pointing in their view direction.
- For workplaces headcount monitoring, viewing direction is important in order to get the correct data on which individual workplace/area is occupied or not. Remember: 1 Vergesense device can only cover a maximum of 8 workplace areas.
- In meeting rooms, viewing direction is important to make sure to cover the whole room
Installation instructions
Specifications
- Attach to a metal surface of at least 0.3cm (1/8”) thickness
- Allows mounting for ceiling <3cm (<12’) in height.
- The sensor weighs 230gr (0.51 lbs).
- Sensor housing includes (2) magnets with a magnetic load of 2kg (4.66 lbs) each. Magnets are pre-installed on the backplate at the factory.
To meet SDS 2.0 Building Code Compliance
- Install (2) clear bumpers (McMaster p/n 95495K24 or equivalent) with adhesive-backed bumpers installed at 90° to the two magnets (Fig 2)
- Two bumpers have a height of 0.6cm (0.234”) which is below 0.63cm (0.25”) magnet height
Performance Criteria
- Meets the specific required building codes for attachment of non-structural components as defined in 2018 IBC ASCE 7-16 code
- Bumpers prevent the sensor from rocking and/or sliding during dynamic events
Info
- Only mount on flat surfaces.
- Do not mount on a surface area less than 8.25cm x 8.25 cm (3.25”x 3.25”) to contact with bumpers and magnets
- Do not mount to metal plate surfaces exposed to, and/or will experience, or vibratory forces
- Attach to a metal surface of at least 0.3cm (1/8”) thickness
Next steps
Make sure to check VergeSense hardware and network requirements prior to VergeSense gateway installation.