Is there a ir or laser trip wire? ?

[vocal shell]

I want it so when I go to the bathroom at night and walk out my bedroom the hall light comebon nice and dim. I have tried motion sensors but they are too slow by the time they register me I'm only halfway through the hallway or i have to stand there like a lemon.

[indigo dock]

I'm sure you can do this with IR and ESPHOME 🙂

[lucid prairie]

PIR should be quick enough for this unless the placement is bad

[sturdy blaze]

with pir, you want to ensure that people are moving across the field of view of the sensor (i.e. side to side) to get the most responsive activation.

the worst case for them is straight towards or away from the sensor

if you normally keep your bedroom door closed, also consider adding an open/close sensor to the door which you can use to turn on the hall light when the door opens.

[lusty lake]

There definately are laser tripwires. I still have a couple I snagged from shops that were closing down. Not sure how easy they are to get. Mine are old and very large devices. I'd be experimenting with PIR placement or mmWave Radar.

[lofty rain]

if you want to diy something you could do something like this: https://quartzcomponents.com/blogs/electronics-projects/diy-laser-tripwire-security-system-using-arduino
just package the diode and receiver in the same box and then have a mirror on the other side

tbh though, I'd just use one of those cheap ultrasound/lidar distance modules and trigger when it drops below the "default" distance of the width of your doorway or whatever

basically anything you see here would work https://thepihut.com/collections/distance-sensors

[lusty lake]

Now that you mention it, i've done this exact thing before with an ultrasonic sensor. (back in the early days of arduino)

[native musk]

My simple solution: a plugin nightlight with an integrated light sensor. Not smart, nothing to setup but it provides enough light to get across the landing in exactly this scenario.