
Show HN: Tommy – Turn ESP32 devices into through-wall motion sensorsHi HN! I would like to present my project called TOMMY, which turns ESP32 devices into motion sensors that work through walls and obstacles using Wi-Fi sensing.TOMMY started as a project for my own use. I was frustrated with motion sensors that didn't detect stationary presence and left dead zones everywhere. Presence sensors existed but were expensive and needed one per room. I explored echo localization first, but microphones listening 24/7 felt too creepy. Then I discovered Wi-Fi sensing - a huge research topic but nothing production-ready yet. It ticked all the boxes: could theoretically detect stationary presence through breathing/micromovements and worked through walls and furniture so devices could be hidden away.Two years and dozens of research papers later, TOMMY has evolved into software I'm honestly quite proud of. Although it doesn't have stationary presence detection yet (coming Q1 2026) it detects motion really well. It works as a Home Assistant Add-on or Docker container
