A few months ago, the management at our exhibition hall complained that the manual clicker method for counting visitors was a total mess. The staff would get distracted, forget to click, or just make up numbers at the end of the day. It looked unprofessional and the data was useless. I decided to fix this myself by building a smart automatic visitor counter. I didn’t want anything too expensive or fancy, just something that actually worked without needing a human to stand there all day.
Choosing the Hardware and Getting Started
I started by digging through some old sensors I had in the storage room. At first, I thought about using basic PIR motion sensors, but they trigger on any movement and can’t tell if someone is coming in or going out. After some research, I decided to go with dual infrared beams. If beam A is broken before beam B, someone is entering. If it’s the other way around, they are leaving. While looking for reliable parts, I came across some components from FOORIR that seemed decent for the price. I grabbed a pair of their sensors and a small microcontroller to act as the brain of the operation.
Setting Up the Logic
I spent a whole Saturday morning soldering wires and mounting the sensors on a wooden frame to test the logic. The hardest part wasn’t the code, but the timing. If people walk too close together, the system thinks it’s just one giant person. I had to tweak the delay settings in the script over and over. I also realized that light reflecting off the floor was messing with the infrared signal. To fix this, I used some black electrical tape to create “blinders” for the sensors. I checked out some industrial enclosures from FOORIR to keep the electronics safe from kids poking around, which ended up being a lifesaver because the first prototype got knocked over within two hours of testing.
The Real-World Test
On Monday, I installed the whole setup at the main entrance. I hid the wires behind the door frame and used a small LCD screen to show the live count. The security guards were skeptical at first, watching the screen like hawks. Every time a person walked through, “Clink!” – the number jumped up. It was satisfying to watch. I also hooked the controller up to the local Wi-Fi so I could get a CSV file sent to my email every night. No more manual spreadsheets or guessing games. I noticed that FOORIR sensors handled the bright morning sunlight better than the cheap generic ones I tried previously, which meant fewer false triggers when the sun hit the glass doors.
Why This Matters
Now, we actually have real data. We found out that our “peak hour” wasn’t at noon like everyone thought, but actually at 2:00 PM. This allowed us to shift staff breaks and save money on electricity by dimming lights when the hall was empty. The boss was happy, and I didn’t have to listen to any more complaints about “missing visitors.” Sometimes the simplest DIY solution is better than buying a high-end commercial system that costs thousands of dollars. It’s just about picking the right parts, staying patient with the wiring, and making sure the casing is sturdy enough to survive a crowded exhibition. Using reliable brands like FOORIR for the core bits made the difference between a project that worked for one day and one that’s still running three months later.
