Tasmota with custom driver for STHS34PF80 presence sensor. Where to start?

[shurushetr]

Hi all!
Trying to figure out where to start with custom build of Tasmota with support for STHS34PF80 sensor (supports i2C).

• The sensor I'm using is from Sparkfun (https://www.sparkfun.com/sparkfun-mini-human-presence-and-motion-sensor-sths34pf80-qwiic.html)
• Brain of operation - ESP8266 (Wemos D1)
• Sensor datasheet is available - https://docs.sparkfun.com/SparkFun_Qwiic_Human_Presence_Sensor-STHS34PF80/assets/component_documentation/sths34pf80.pdf
• Application article on how to make use of it - https://www.st.com/resource/en/application_note/an5867-sths34pf80-lowpower-highsensitivity-infrared-ir-sensor-for-presence-and-motion-detection-stmicroelectronics.pdf
• Driver from chipmaker is available on github - https://github.com/STMicroelectronics/sths34pf80-pid
• They also provide some examples - https://github.com/STMicroelectronics/STMems_Standard_C_drivers/tree/master/sths34pf80_STdC/examples

I don't have a good knowledge of C or drivers implementation, with that said - couple of questions.

• Is it viable/does it makes sense to do this?
• How hard it would be for a noob like me to attempt something like this? I can modify and compile a firmware for a marlin based 3d printer. Drivers are new to me.
• Would it be a correct move to find someone for a paid gig to implement this and potentially do a PR?

Sensor has 8 different embedded functions registers, that can be configured for various trigger conditions.

My end goal is to create a battery powered sensor that can trigger things. I need to flush the toilet after my cats used it for their cat business. They prefer the toilet over the litter box for some reason. The flusher itself is just a servo and I'll be able to use it via relay. Off the shelf products are not made for cats or small spaces. So trying to make a thing.

As an alternative I could just use an "arduino" device and use available sketches for this. But I wanted to have an MQTT enabled device, to have it hooked up to my home assitant, to make sure things are working when I'm away for a couple of days and such.

[sfromis]

Battery-powered always-on and ESP8266 is not a good plan without a big battery. Really big.

C programming can be tricky around details, and debugging options are "pretty basic", but you could take a look at existing drivers, to see how they do things.

[shurushetr]

Is there a better platform to attempt this with, that Tasmota supports?

[sfromis]

That would depend on what you expect presence detection to do for you, but a rudimentary PIR sensor may be easier to work with.
Also, https://tasmota.github.io/docs/Supported-Peripherals/ lists a couple of presence sensors.

To be clear, I have no opinion of "better" or not.

[shurushetr]

Unfortunately, PIR sensor is out of the question. The tech doesn't do a good job with fur. Temps delta should be significant enough for it to trigger, a lot of time, fur is near ambient, and it takes a while for PIR to pick it up.
I've seen the list of supported peripherals, but there is nothing close to what this sensor can do.

[Noschvie]

Did you have a look to the LD2410 mmWave Radar Sensor?