What is your experience with Sentry?

[varghesesa]

Forgive me if this was asked and answered already, I didn't find it. In the make time frame(s) that are analyzed by sentry, are the area(s) that are not included in motion zones also analyzed? For example if a front yard has zone A green out to the curb and stops, and a cat, squirrel, shadow etc trips motion in the green area of zone A but a person is mowing their lawn across the street will they be excluded since they are not in a defined motion zone or will that count as a valid alert since a human is in the camera frame? Same question on vehicles, once vehicle detection is implemented. Very happy so far with sentry at my house, but before deploying it for a customer location I had these questions.

Right now, if Sentry is checked, all prior triggers that you setup in Blue Iris will first define the motion trigger, so in your case, the zones configuration will first generate the trigger to then send Sentry an image to detect humans. The image sent to Sentry is defined by the MAKE time. We then do the evaluation right now on the whole image. For future releases, we are considering to focus the Sentry AI analysis in the Areas of Interest as defined in BI via zones & hotspots.

So to answer your question, Sentry AI would currently send the alert of the person mowing their lawn. While speaking with customers, I have found that the purpose for creating zones is to reduce false alerts and identify human motion. If that is the case, then perhaps turning off zones and just using Sentry AI for human detection will suffice.

If the zones are to define an Area of Interest (AOI) for other purposes, leave them in place. And in a future release, Sentry AI will take advantage of the AOI to enhance the alert.

-- Sam from Sentry

 

[varghesesa]

OK, this is unfortunate, but I'm starting to have my SMS alerts fire on regular motion instead of just when a person is detected. Currently, since there's no way configure this for just Sentry only or even post filter through a proxy because there is no meta data tagging to tell me when it's a person detection or not, it means my house is announcing through the speakers that it's seeing people when it isn't.

About 90% of the regular motion events aren't triggering the SMS alert, but I've gotten 4 today that did even though those events in Blue Iris are not tagged with the Sentry logo.

You may want to reach out to BI support on this one. Are you sure the camera that sent the alert is activated with Sentry?

-- Sam from Sentry

 

[anijet]

.............. We then do the evaluation right now on the whole image. For future releases, we are considering to focus the Sentry AI analysis in the Areas of Interest as defined in BI via zones & hotspots.
.................
If the zones are to define an Area of Interest (AOI) for other purposes, leave them in place. And in a future release, Sentry AI will take advantage of the AOI to enhance the alert.

-- Sam from Sentry

That would be good in some cases but not all. I would suggest it be made a toggle to use the complete image or just AOI.

I have a case where headlights on a wall cause a trigger but that is the same area where a person would be in the image. So my zones are below the wall where only the persons legs and feet cause the trigger.

 

[pmcross]

Today has been a much better day in regards to false positives with Sentry. All alerts that I received from Sentry today contained no false positives. Not sure if the AI is learning, or if today was less of a sun/cloud type of day.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[sorka]

You may want to reach out to BI support on this one. Are you sure the camera that sent the alert is activated with Sentry?

-- Sam from Sentry

Yes, the 3 cameras that had Sentry enabled are the only 3 cameras that have the "send SMS" checkbox on and configured.

 

[anijet]

Seems very intermittent. I just had 2 alerts that clearly had a person in them yet when I look at the BI log nothing shows as sent to Sentry. Both alerts were sent just like Sentry was not being used.

Question, where do the Sentry icons show up on the clips/alerts? I have never noticed one.

 

[pmcross]

Seems very intermittent. I just had 2 alerts that clearly had a person in them yet when I look at the BI log nothing shows as sent to Sentry. Both alerts were sent just like Sentry was not being used.

Question, where do the Sentry icons show up on the clips/alerts? I have never noticed one.

The Sentry icons show up in the alerts menu inside of the local BI interface.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[varghesesa]

Seems very intermittent. I just had 2 alerts that clearly had a person in them yet when I look at the BI log nothing shows as sent to Sentry. Both alerts were sent just like Sentry was not being used.

Question, where do the Sentry icons show up on the clips/alerts? I have never noticed one.

 

[anijet]

I asked this question in another thread:
Does the "Create Alert list images when triggered" box on the Record Tab need to be checked for the Sentry system to work?

The answer* seemed to be it was not needed but, your clip image just above is of Alerts - which would be empty if the "Create Alert list images when triggered" box is not selected.

*Sentry works off the motion detection from BI. So long as the motion sensor is active, Sentry should work.

 

[fenderman]

I asked this question in another thread:
Does the "Create Alert list images when triggered" box on the Record Tab need to be checked for the Sentry system to work?

The answer* seemed to be it was not needed but, your clip image just above is of Alerts - which would be empty if the "Create Alert list images when triggered" box is not selected.

*Sentry works off the motion detection from BI. So long as the motion sensor is active, Sentry should work.

This is needed for the mobile client/webserver alert list and are very low res images and are likely not used for AI. There is no reason not to have the box checked.

 

[anijet]

Question, where do the Sentry icons show up on the clips/alerts? I have never noticed one.

And the answer is...………
No, it doesn't need to be checked for Sentry to work but...…….
If you want to see the Sentry icons it DOES need to be checked in order to populate the Alerts list (which is the only place the icons show up, not in the clip list).

 

[integlikewhoa]

There should be away to filter Sentry detected alerts in this list rather then scrolling down the "Alerts" list and looking for the icon.

 

[varghesesa]

There should be away to filter Sentry detected alerts in this list rather then scrolling down the "Alerts" list and looking for the icon.

Agreed. Many customers have made a similar request. We plan to make it a high priority on the roadmap and next release.

Sam from Sentry

 

[pmcross]

I'd like to see the Sentry alert icon in UI3 as well as the mobile app.

 

[varghesesa]

I'd like to see the Sentry alert icon in UI3 as well as the mobile app.

It's on the roadmap! Good idea.

 

[JNDATHP]

While I record 24/7, I would like to use Sentry in such a way that motion alerts are NOT triggered. Examples would be shadows, tree leave movent, etc.

My roadmap would look something like this:

Person detection
Vehicle detection
Animal detection

Otherwise, do not trigger alert.

As auto tracking cameras, as an example, become more popular, it would be nice to only have alerts if the above conditions apply.

Why animal detection? Although low priority, case uses would be for those who do not leash their animals that .!?##, and, in our area, to know if we have mountain lions or coyotes in our yard.

Love that the AI is getting better and that object detection is expanding beyond people.

Should we have Big Foot to put the conspiracy to bed once and for all? Oh wait, that is in my animal request. Never mind.

Thanks for the effort put in to this project. Once fully implemented I see very few false alerts in my alert list urging me to review each alert.

 

[varghesesa]

While I record 24/7, I would like to use Sentry in such a way that motion alerts are NOT triggered. Examples would be shadows, tree leave movent, etc.

My roadmap would look something like this:

Person detection
Vehicle detection
Animal detection

Otherwise, do not trigger alert.

As auto tracking cameras, as an example, become more popular, it would be nice to only have alerts if the above conditions apply.

Why animal detection? Although low priority, case uses would be for those who do not leash their animals that .!?##, and, in our area, to know if we have mountain lions or coyotes in our yard.

Love that the AI is getting better and that object detection is expanding beyond people.

Should we have Big Foot to put the conspiracy to bed once and for all? Oh wait, that is in my animal request. Never mind.

Thanks for the effort put in to this project. Once fully implemented I see very few false alerts in my alert list urging me to review each alert.

While I record 24/7, I would like to use Sentry in such a way that motion alerts are NOT triggered. Examples would be shadows, tree leave movent, etc.

My roadmap would look something like this:

Person detection
Vehicle detection
Animal detection

Otherwise, do not trigger alert.

As auto tracking cameras, as an example, become more popular, it would be nice to only have alerts if the above conditions apply.

Why animal detection? Although low priority, case uses would be for those who do not leash their animals that .!?##, and, in our area, to know if we have mountain lions or coyotes in our yard.

Love that the AI is getting better and that object detection is expanding beyond people.

Should we have Big Foot to put the conspiracy to bed once and for all? Oh wait, that is in my animal request. Never mind.

Thanks for the effort put in to this project. Once fully implemented I see very few false alerts in my alert list urging me to review each alert.

All good ideas.

In regards to "do not trigger an alert", that is the current behavior when Sentry is activated. We add all motion detection to the clip list and mark clips containing human activity with icons, but we only send alerts for clips that contain human activity.


Vehicle detection already exists. It's just a matter of working with BI to figure out the right integration. Animal detection in regards to pets (dogs and cats) also exists and just needs to be integrated. The other animals like mountain lions and coyotes were never considered, but makes sense. I'll add to the roadmap. You must live in California?

Big Foot is a must have.

-- Sam from Sentry

 

[BlueWave]

Sentry support is awesome! I submitted a ticket with some false negatives and support gave me a lengthy reply with an analysis of each alert I mentioned, not only that but they found a bug with the BlueIris integration they are working on fixing and extended my trial by another month just as a thank you. Very pleased with their desire to listen to customers and improve their product. Good customer service goes a long way.

Some ideas I have...

- Filter Alerts (Sentry already acknowledged its coming)

- Some easier way to possibly mark an alert as a false positive or false negative. Maybe a right click on the alert in BI with an option "Report False Negative" or "Report False Positive" as a way to get more examples over the developers to possibly expedite algorithm changes. Or if BI integration isn't available, a portal with Sentry to easily give our Sentry ID and time + time zone to quickly and easily submit the reports for review.

- A portal on Sentry to enter our SentryID along with an exact time of an alert (As shown on BI interface) to view the image that was sent to Sentry for processing. This way if we see something wasn't detected we could check ourselves to see if the problem was with Sentry algorithm or with the make time causing it to send an image when the subject is already out of frame, or to see if BI failed to send the picture...etc. Would sorta allow us to self-diagnose a BI issue or Sentry algorithm issue. Heck from there an option to select "Report False Negative" or "Report False Positive" if its clear its a Sentry algorithm problem.

- Some sort of way to track when Sentry does some sort of upgrade or update, like a Database Version # or something where we can see when major changes are made that should make our experience better...etc.

 

[anijet]

..............- Some easier way to possibly mark an alert as a false positive or false negative. Maybe a right click on the alert in BI with an option "Report False Negative" or "Report False Positive" as a way to get more examples over the developers to possibly expedite algorithm changes. Or if BI integration isn't available, a portal with Sentry to easily give our Sentry ID and time + time zone to quickly and easily submit the reports for review.

- A portal on Sentry to enter our SentryID along with an exact time of an alert (As shown on BI interface) to view the image that was sent to Sentry for processing. This way if we see something wasn't detected we could check ourselves to see if the problem was with Sentry algorithm or with the make time causing it to send an image when the subject is already out of frame, or to see if BI failed to send the picture...etc. Would sorta allow us to self-diagnose a BI issue or Sentry algorithm issue. Heck from there an option to select "Report False Negative" or "Report False Positive" if its clear its a Sentry algorithm problem.

- Some sort of way to track when Sentry does some sort of upgrade or update, like a Database Version # or something where we can see when major changes are made that should make our experience better...etc.

Excellent ideas!!

 

[varghesesa]

Sentry support is awesome! I submitted a ticket with some false negatives and support gave me a lengthy reply with an analysis of each alert I mentioned, not only that but they found a bug with the BlueIris integration they are working on fixing and extended my trial by another month just as a thank you. Very pleased with their desire to listen to customers and improve their product. Good customer service goes a long way.

Some ideas I have...

- Filter Alerts (Sentry already acknowledged its coming)

- Some easier way to possibly mark an alert as a false positive or false negative. Maybe a right click on the alert in BI with an option "Report False Negative" or "Report False Positive" as a way to get more examples over the developers to possibly expedite algorithm changes. Or if BI integration isn't available, a portal with Sentry to easily give our Sentry ID and time + time zone to quickly and easily submit the reports for review.

- A portal on Sentry to enter our SentryID along with an exact time of an alert (As shown on BI interface) to view the image that was sent to Sentry for processing. This way if we see something wasn't detected we could check ourselves to see if the problem was with Sentry algorithm or with the make time causing it to send an image when the subject is already out of frame, or to see if BI failed to send the picture...etc. Would sorta allow us to self-diagnose a BI issue or Sentry algorithm issue. Heck from there an option to select "Report False Negative" or "Report False Positive" if its clear its a Sentry algorithm problem.

- Some sort of way to track when Sentry does some sort of upgrade or update, like a Database Version # or something where we can see when major changes are made that should make our experience better...etc.

Thank you and great feedback.

Bullet 2: Great idea on submitting tickets so we can improve the algorithm. Clicking on the clip in BI to submit false negatives and positives is something we never thought about. Thanks! A Sentry customer portal is in the works. Going to take some time but hopefully v1.0 this year. We still have not provided BI documentation.

Bullet 3: Self-service in the portal is also a great idea which we had not considered. Thank you.

Bullet 4: We may not share all the AI updates with Blue Iris but we do when it makes sense or if it involves a new feature.

-- Sam from Sentry