Tommy – Turn ESP32 devices into through-wall motion sensors
Hi HN! I would like to present my project called TOMMY, which turns ESP32 devices into motion sensors that work through walls and obstacles using Wi-Fi sensing. TOMMY started as a project for my own use. I was frustrated with motion sensors that didn't detect stationary presence and left dead zones everywhere. Presence sensors existed but were expensive and needed one per room. I explored echo localization first, but microphones listening 24/7 felt too creepy. Then I discovered Wi-Fi sensing - a huge research topic but nothing production-ready yet. It ticked all the boxes: could…
Tommy – Turn ESP32 devices into through-wall motion sensors launched on October 23, 2025 with 110 votes, #283 of 8,178 launches that month and more than 95% of that year's launches.
In plain words
Tommy is software that transforms ESP32 devices into motion sensors using Wi-Fi sensing technology to detect movement through walls and obstacles. It addresses limitations of traditional motion sensors by eliminating dead zones and detecting stationary presence without requiring multiple expensive devices per room. The system operates wirelessly through walls and furniture, making it suitable for home automation and security applications where conventional motion sensors fall short.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
Presence detection using Wi-Fi sensing. Runs on ESP32. Integrates with Home Assistant and Matter.
TOMMY is a Wi-Fi sensing system that uses Channel State Information (CSI) from Wi-Fi packets to turn existing devices into presence sensors. It runs on your own hardware and all sensing data stays on your local network. You need two supported devices and the TOMMY server to get your first zone running. The devices sense the space. The server coordinates them and serves the dashboard. Buy two ESP32 boards, or use ESPHome devices you already own. Opens Home Assistant Supervisor and pre-fills the TOMMY repository. TOMMY runs on most ESP32-based devices, from development boards to Shelly relays. There is no proprietary sensor to buy. The one hard requirement is that every device in a zone uses…from tommysense.com
In the maker’s words, at launch
Hi HN! I would like to present my project called TOMMY, which turns ESP32 devices into motion sensors that work through walls and obstacles using Wi-Fi sensing. TOMMY started as a project for my own use. I was frustrated with motion sensors that didn't detect stationary presence and left dead zones everywhere.…
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ESPectre – Motion detection based on Wi-Fi spectre analysisNov 2025 · github.com · ▲215Hi everyone, I'm the author of ESPectre. This is an open-source (GPLv3) project that uses Wi-Fi signal analysis to detect motion using CSI data, and it has already garnered almost 2,000 stars in two weeks. Key technical details: - The system does NOT use Machine Learning, it relies purely on Math. — Runs in real-time on a super affordable chip like the ESP32. - It integrates seamlessly with Home Assistant via MQTT.
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