Troubleshooting August Vehicle Detection Failures
The vehicle detection feature on August cameras is a powerful tool that helps filter your notifications, ensuring you're only alerted to the events that matter most. When it fails to work, you can be left with a flood of irrelevant motion alerts or, worse, miss an important event entirely.
This professional guide will walk you through the common reasons why August vehicle detection might be failing and provide clear, actionable steps to resolve the issue.
## Step 1: Check Your Subscription and App Settings
Before adjusting the camera itself, it's essential to confirm that the feature is enabled and active on your account.
- Verify Your Subscription: Smart alerts like vehicle detection are often part of a paid August subscription plan. Log in to your August account and navigate to the subscription section to ensure your plan is active and includes this feature.
- Enable Smart Alerts: Dive into the August app's settings for the specific camera you're troubleshooting.
- Go to the camera's settings page.
- Find the Notifications or Smart Alerts menu.
- Ensure that Motion Detection is turned on.
- Specifically, make sure that the toggle for Vehicle Detections is enabled. If this is turned off, you will not receive any vehicle-specific alerts.
## Step 2: Optimise Your Activity Zones
Activity Zones tell your camera where to look for motion. If vehicles are moving outside of your defined zones, the camera will ignore them. This is the most common reason for missed detections.
How to Configure Activity Zones Correctly:
- In your camera's settings, go to the Activity Zones menu.
- You will see the camera's view with one or more zone boxes overlaid.
- Ensure that the zones you have drawn completely cover the area where you expect to see vehicles. This includes your entire driveway, the parking space, and a portion of the street if necessary.
- If a car's movement starts or ends outside a zone, it may not be registered correctly. It's often better to have a slightly larger zone than one that is too small.
- Make sure the zones are active.
## Step 3: Assess Camera Placement and View
The camera's ability to distinguish a vehicle is dependent on having a clear, unobstructed view.
- Angle and Height: The camera should be mounted high enough to get a clear overview of the area, typically 2-3 metres (7-10 feet) off the ground, angled slightly downwards. A camera mounted too low or at a sharp angle may only see a small part of the car, making it difficult to identify.
- Obstructions: Check for anything that could be blocking the view. This includes overgrown tree branches, bushes, parked objects, or even spiderwebs directly on the lens.
- Lighting: At night, poor lighting can significantly impact performance. Ensure the area is adequately lit. If the camera has its own spotlight or infrared LEDs, make sure they are working correctly and not being blocked. Strong glare from the sun during the day can also wash out the image, hindering detection.
## Step 4: Adjust Motion Sensitivity
The general motion sensitivity setting can also impact smart alert performance. The camera must first detect motion before its AI can analyse what caused it.
- In the camera's settings, find the Motion Sensitivity slider.
- If you are missing events, try increasing the sensitivity one level at a time.
- Be aware that setting it too high may lead to excessive false alerts from things like moving shadows or leaves. Finding the right balance is key.
By systematically checking your settings, optimising your zones, and ensuring a clear view, you can resolve most issues with August's vehicle detection and restore its accuracy.