3.4 KiB
60Hz Heartbeat Presence
An ESPHome configuration for the Seeed Studio MR60BHA2 mmWave Sensor Kit — a contactless vital signs and human presence detection device running on the XIAO ESP32C6.
Overview
This device uses 60GHz millimeter-wave radar to detect human presence and monitor vital signs without physical contact. It integrates directly with Home Assistant and supports Thread mesh networking.
Monitored metrics:
- Human presence (occupancy)
- Heart rate (BPM)
- Respiratory rate (breaths/min)
- Distance to detected person (cm)
- Number of targets detected
- Ambient illuminance (lux)
Hardware
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| MCU | Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32C6 |
| mmWave Sensor | Seeed Studio MR60BHA2 (60GHz) |
| Light Sensor | BH1750 (I²C, 0x23) |
| LED | WS2812 RGB LED (single, GPIO1) |
Pin Assignments
| Interface | Signal | GPIO |
|---|---|---|
| UART (MR60BHA2) | RX | 17 |
| UART (MR60BHA2) | TX | 16 |
| I²C (BH1750) | SDA | 22 |
| I²C (BH1750) | SCL | 23 |
| LED Strip | Data | 1 |
UART: 115200 baud, 8N1
Features
Presence-gated vital signs — Heart rate and respiratory rate sensors only publish data when a person is detected. Values reset to zero automatically when the area is vacant, preventing stale readings.
Non-invasive detection — The 60GHz radar works through non-conductive materials and requires no skin contact. Suitable for discreet installation behind walls or panels.
Thread / OpenThread support — Mesh networking capable for resilient home automation networks.
OTA updates — Firmware can be updated over-the-air via the ESPHome dashboard.
RGB status LED — Single addressable WS2812 LED, controllable from Home Assistant.
Requirements
- ESPHome ≥ 2024.3.2
- Home Assistant (for API integration)
secrets.yamlwith the following keys:
wifi_ssid: "YourNetwork"
wifi_password: "YourPassword"
api_encryption_key: "<base64-encoded 32-byte key>"
ota_password: "your-ota-password"
openthread_dataset: "<Thread TLV dataset>" # optional
External Component
The MR60BHA2 UART driver is sourced from:
ESPHome fetches this automatically at build time — no manual installation required.
Installation
- Clone this repository.
- Create
secrets.yamlwith the values above. - Flash the device via USB:
esphome run heartbeat60hz.yaml - Subsequent updates can be done OTA through the ESPHome dashboard or CLI.
After flashing, the device will appear in Home Assistant via mDNS auto-discovery.
Home Assistant Entities
Once adopted, the following entities are available:
| Entity | Type | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Occupancy | Binary Sensor | — |
| Heart Rate | Sensor | BPM |
| Respiratory Rate | Sensor | BPM |
| Distance | Sensor | cm |
| Target Count | Sensor | — |
| Illuminance | Sensor | lx |
| RGB LED | Light | — |
Fallback Access Point
If Wi-Fi is unavailable, the device broadcasts a fallback hotspot:
- SSID:
seeedstudio-mr60bha2 - IP:
192.168.4.1
Use this to reconfigure Wi-Fi credentials via the ESPHome captive portal.
Project Info
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Device name | heartbeat60hz |
| ESPHome project | seeedstudio.mr60bha2_kit v3.5 |
| Framework | ESP-IDF |
| Min ESPHome | 2024.3.2 |