--- title: Bayesian description: Instructions on how to integrate threshold Bayesian sensors into Home Assistant. ha_category: - Binary sensor - Helper - Utility ha_iot_class: Local Polling ha_release: 0.53 ha_quality_scale: internal ha_domain: bayesian ha_platforms: - binary_sensor ha_integration_type: helper ha_codeowners: - '@HarvsG' related: - docs: /docs/configuration/ title: Configuration file --- The `bayesian` binary sensor platform observes the state from multiple sensors. It uses [Bayes' rule](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayes%27_theorem) to estimate the probability that an event is occurring given the state of the observed sensors. If the estimated posterior probability is above the `probability_threshold`, the sensor is `on`; otherwise, it is `off`. This allows for the detection of complex events that may not be readily observable, e.g., cooking, showering, in bed, the start of a morning routine, etc. It can also be used to gain greater confidence about events that _are_ directly observable, but for which the sensors can be unreliable, e.g., presence. ## Theory A key concept in Bayes' Rule is the difference between the probability of the 'event given the observation' and the probability of the 'observation given the event'. In some cases, these probabilities will be similar. The probability that someone is in the room given that motion is detected is similar to the probability motion is detected given that someone is in the room when motion sensors are accurate. In other cases, the distinction is much more important. The probability one has just arrived home (the event) each time the front door contact sensor reports `open` (the observation) (p=0.2) is not the same as the probability the front door contact sensor reports `open` (the observation) when one comes home (the event) (p=0.999). This difference is because one opens the door several times a day for other purposes. In the configuration use the probability of the observation (the sensor state in question) given the event (the assumed state of the Bayesian binary_sensor). ## Estimating probabilities 1. Avoid `0` and `1`, these will mess with the odds and are rarely true - sensors fail. 2. When using `0.99` and `0.001`. The number of `9`s and `0`s matters. 3. Most probabilities will be time-based - the fraction of time something is true is also the probability it will be true. 4. Use your Home Assistant history to help estimate the probabilities. - `prob_given_true:` - Select the sensor in question over a time range when you think the `bayesian` sensor should have been `true`. `prob_given_true:` is the fraction of the time the sensor was in `to_state:`. - `prob_given_false:` - Select the sensor in question over a time range when you think the `bayesian` sensor should have been `false`. `prob_given_false:` is the fraction of the time the sensor was in `to_state:`. 5. Don't work backwards by tweaking `prob_given_true:` and `prob_given_false:` to give the results and behaviors you want, use #4 to try and get probabilities as close to the 'truth' as you can, if your behavior is not as expected consider adding more sensors or see #6. 6. If your Bayesian sensor ends up triggering `on` too easily, re-check that the probabilities set and estimated make sense, then consider increasing `probability_threshold:` and vice-versa. ## Configuration To enable the Bayesian sensor, add the following lines to your {% term "`configuration.yaml`" %} file. {% include integrations/restart_ha_after_config_inclusion.md %} ```yaml # Example configuration.yaml entry binary_sensor: - platform: bayesian name: "Kitchen Occupied" prior: 0.3 probability_threshold: 0.5 observations: - entity_id: "switch.kitchen_lights" prob_given_true: 0.6 prob_given_false: 0.2 platform: "state" to_state: "on" ``` {% configuration %} prior: description: > The prior probability of the event (0 to 1). At any point in time (ignoring all external influences) how likely is this event to be occurring? required: true type: float probability_threshold: description: > The posterior probability at which the sensor should trigger to `on`. use higher values to reduce false positives (and increase false negatives) Note: If the threshold is higher than the prior then the default state will be `off` required: false type: float default: 0.5 name: description: Name of the sensor to use in the frontend. required: false type: string default: Bayesian Binary Sensor unique_id: description: An ID that uniquely identifies this bayesian entity. If two entities have the same unique ID, Home Assistant will raise an exception. required: false type: string device_class: description: Sets the [class of the device](/integrations/binary_sensor/), changing the device state and icon that is displayed on the frontend. required: false type: string observations: description: The observations which should influence the probability that the given event is occurring. required: true type: list keys: platform: description: > The supported platforms are `state`, `numeric_state`, and `template`. They are modeled after their corresponding triggers for automations, requiring `to_state` (for `state`), `below` and/or `above` (for `numeric_state`) and `value_template` (for `template`). required: true type: string entity_id: description: Name of the entity to monitor. Required for `state` and `numeric_state`. required: false type: string to_state: description: The entity state that defines the observation. Required (for `state`). required: false type: string value_template: description: Defines the template to be used, should evaluate to `true` or `false`. Required for `template`. required: false type: template prob_given_true: description: > Assuming the bayesian binary_sensor is `true`, the probability the entity state is occurring. required: true type: float prob_given_false: description: Assuming the bayesian binary_sensor is `false` the probability the entity state is occurring. required: true type: float {% endconfiguration %} ## Full examples These are a number of worked examples which you may find helpful for each of the state types. ### State The following is an example for the `state` observation platform. ```yaml # Example configuration.yaml entry binary_sensor: platform: "bayesian" name: "in_bed" unique_id: "172b6ef1-e37e-4f04-8d64-891e84c02b43" # generated on https://www.uuidgenerator.net/ prior: 0.25 # I spend 6 hours a day in bed 6hr/24hr is 0.25 probability_threshold: 0.8 # I am going to be using this sensor to turn out the lights so I only want to to activate when I am sure observations: - platform: "state" entity_id: "sensor.living_room_motion" prob_given_true: 0.05 # If I am in bed then I shouldn't be in the living room, very occasionally I have guests, however prob_given_false: 0.2 # My sensor history shows If I am not in bed I spend about a fifth of my time in the living room to_state: "on" - platform: "state" entity_id: "sensor.basement_motion" prob_given_true: 0.5 # My sensor history shows, when I am in bed, my basement motion sensor is active about half the time because of my cat prob_given_false: 0.3 # As above but my cat tends to spend more time upstairs or outside when I am awake and I rarely use the basement to_state: "on" - platform: "state" entity_id: "sensor.bedroom_motion" prob_given_true: 0.5 # My sensor history shows when I am in bed the sensor picks me up about half the time prob_given_false: 0.1 # My sensor history shows I spend about 10% of my waking hours in my bedroom to_state: "on" - platform: "state" entity_id: "sun.sun" prob_given_true: 0.7 # If I am in bed then there is a good chance the sun will be down, but in the summer mornings I may still be in bed prob_given_false: 0.45 # If I am am awake then there is a reasonable chance the sun will be below the horizon - especially in winter to_state: "below_horizon" - platform: "state" entity_id: "sensor.android_charger_type" prob_given_true: 0.95 # When I am in bed, I nearly always plug my phone in to charge prob_given_false: 0.1 # When I am awake, I occasionally AC charge my phone to_state: "ac" ``` ### Numeric State Next up an example which targets the `numeric_state` observation platform, as seen in the configuration it requires `below` and/or `above` instead of `to_state`. ```yaml # Example configuration.yaml entry binary_sensor: name: "Heat On" platform: "bayesian" prior: 0.2 probability_threshold: 0.9 observations: - platform: "numeric_state" entity_id: "sensor.outside_air_temperature_fahrenheit" prob_given_true: 0.95 prob_given_false: 0.05 below: 50 ``` ### Template Here's an example for `template` observation platform, as seen in the configuration it requires `value_template`. This template will evaluate to true if the device tracker `device_tracker.paulus` shows `not_home` and it last changed its status more than 5 minutes ago. {% raw %} ```yaml # Example configuration.yaml entry binary_sensor: name: "Paulus Home" platform: "bayesian" device_class: "presence" prior: 0.5 probability_threshold: 0.9 observations: - platform: template value_template: > {{is_state('device_tracker.paulus','not_home') and ((as_timestamp(now()) - as_timestamp(states.device_tracker.paulus.last_changed)) > 300)}} prob_given_true: 0.05 prob_given_false: 0.99 ``` {% endraw %} ### Multiple state and numeric entries per entity Lastly, an example illustrates how to configure Bayesian when there are more than two states of interest and several possible numeric ranges. When an entity can hold more than 2 values of interest (numeric ranges or states), then you may wish to specify probabilities for each possible value. Once you have specified more than one, Bayesian cannot infer anything about states or numeric values that are unspecified, like it usually does, so it is recommended that all possible values are included. As above, the `prob_given_true`s of all the possible states should sum to 1, as should the `prob_given_false`s. If a value that has not been specified is observed, then the observation will be ignored as it would be if the entity were `UNKNOWN` or `UNAVAILABLE`. When more than one range is specified, if a value falls on `below`, it will be included with the range that lists it in `below`. `below` then means "below or equal to". This is not true when only a single range is specified, where both `above` and `below` do not include "equal to". This is an example sensor that can detect if the bins have been left on the side of the road and need to be brought closer to the house. It combines a theoretical presence sensor that gives a numeric signal strength and an API sensor from local government that can have 3 possible states: `due` when collection is due in the next 24 hours, `collected` when collection has happened in the last 24 hours, and `not_due` at other times. ```yaml # Example configuration.yaml entry binary_sensor: name: "Bins need bringing in" platform: "bayesian" prior: 0.14 # bins are left out for usually about one day a week probability_threshold: 0.5 observations: - platform: "numeric_state" entity_id: "sensor.signal_strength" prob_given_true: 0.01 # if the bins are out and need bringing in there is only a 1% chance we will get a strong signal of above 10 prob_given_false: 0.3 # if the bins are not out, we still tend not to get a signal this strong above: 10 - platform: "numeric_state" entity_id: "sensor.signal_strength" prob_given_true: 0.02 prob_given_false: 0.5 #if the bins are not out, we often get a signal this strong above: 5 below: 10 - platform: "numeric_state" entity_id: "sensor.signal_strength" prob_given_true: 0.07 prob_given_false: 0.1 above: 0 below: 5 - platform: "numeric_state" entity_id: "sensor.signal_strength" prob_given_true: 0.3 prob_given_false: 0.07 above: -10 below: 0 - platform: "numeric_state" entity_id: "sensor.signal_strength" prob_given_true: 0.6 #if the bins are out, we often get a signal this weak or even weaker prob_given_false: 0.03 below: -10 # then lets say we want to combine this with an imaginary sensor.bin_collection which reads a local government API that can have one of three values (collected, due, not due) - platform: "state" entity_id: "sensor.bin_collection" prob_given_true: 0.8 # If the bins need bringing in, usually it's because they've just been collected prob_given_false: 0.05 # to_state: "collected" - platform: "state" entity_id: "sensor.bin_collection" prob_given_true: 0.05 # If the bins need bringing in, then the sensor.bin_collection shouldn't be 'due' prob_given_false: 0.11 # The sensor will be 'due' for about 1 day a week (the 24 hours before collection) to_state: "due" - platform: "state" entity_id: "sensor.bin_collection" prob_given_true: 0.15 #All the prob_given_true should add to 1 prob_given_false: 0.84 # All the prob_given_false should add to 1 to_state: "not due" ``` To achieve a similar result for multiple `template` observations targeting a single entity, write your templates to return `True` or `None` rather than `True` or `False`.