Allow stationary objects to be excluded from MQTT occupancy / count topics

[ThisIsQasim]

Describe what you are trying to accomplish and why in non technical terms
I want to be able to disable detection for certain objects that are no longer in motion so that they don't trigger automations/notifications

Describe the solution you'd like
Allow disabling detection for certain objects that stop moving. Something like this in the config.

objects:
  track:
    - person
    - car
    - motorcycle
    - bicycle
  disable_on_stationary:
    - car
    - motorcycle
    - bicycle

Describe alternatives you've considered
I have considered the Avoiding stationary objects section of the docs but that sounds like a hack to me. The MQTT topics around zones are difficult to setup, the recording events are still triggered and I want to detect moving objects in the entire frame not just a zone.

[NickM-27]

automations/notifications

this can already be done with the stationary field that is included in the MQTT payload, ignoring when stationary == true

[NickM-27]

this type of setup would also be problematic because once an object is no longer tracked as stationary, motion will get it to be picked up again as a new event

[ThisIsQasim]

this can already be done with the stationary field that is included in the MQTT payload

As far as I understand, this is only included in the events topics and I wanted the behaviour of <camera>/<object> to be customisable since that would be cleaner than subscribing to the global events topic and writing custom filters for all cameras and objects

this type of setup would also be problematic because once an object is no longer tracked as stationary, motion will get it to be picked up again as a new event

The underlying behaviour can stay the same just the UI and MQTT topics don't show stationary objects as "detected".

[NickM-27]

The underlying behaviour can stay the same just the UI and MQTT topics don't show stationary objects as "detected".

Ah, that would be a different request then, I think that would make sense as a property of MQTT config

[ThisIsQasim]

I think this is not just limited to MQTT, the UI can also take into account this config and not show an event with a stationary object as “In progress”. Basically an easier and more native support for “Avoiding stationary objects” with the underlying detection mechanism staying the same.

[NickM-27]

No, changing the in progress event structure would be directly affecting the internal structure. Events are essentially tracked objects, if an object is still being tracked then the event is in progress.

[ThisIsQasim]

So I have this camera that is pointing at a bunch of stationary objects with almost zero empty space to be used as a detection zone as described here. This results in an object count that is always > 0 on the MQTT topic and an endless event of a stationary scene. It’s good to know that the former case is under consideration but it would be even better if the events could be decoupled from detection so that stationary objects can be excluded.

[NickM-27]

I think an example image would be helpful to see

[NickM-27]

By the way this is already possible with the max_frames config but as I said highly discouraged and not designed to be used that way. It is directly working against the way frigate is designed to work as I described.

[ThisIsQasim]

I think an example image would be helpful to see

I can’t share the actual frame but it’s a garage with multiple vehicles that cover the entire frame. So the frame can’t be divided into entry/exit zones as suggested in the docs. This leaves the vehicles causing an always ongoing event in the UI and a positive presence count in the MQTT topic.

[ThisIsQasim]

By the way this is already possible with the max_frames config but as I said highly discouraged and not designed to be used that way. It is directly working against the way frigate is designed to work as I described.

Sorry I don’t understand, If this option is discouraged, should I still use it or would you consider planning for a better solution to achieve this?

[NickM-27]

I see the usecase for having a presence count that excludes stationary objects.

But the event in the UI is valid and the way things are meant to work, I don't see that as a problem. Seems like something a much simpler solution like #7746 would address

should I still use it or would you consider planning for a better solution to achieve this?

from the frigate perspective, it is not meant to be used that way, I would not advise it

[ThisIsQasim]

I see the usecase for having a presence count that excludes stationary objects.

yeah I see an active_objects mode in the recording section. I would love something similar for the MQTT config but on a per object basis.

But the event in the UI is valid and the way things are meant to work, I don't see that as a problem. Seems like something a much simpler solution like #7746 would address

Alright. Maybe I am misunderstanding what’s meant by events but anything that lets me filter out stationary objects would be good enough from that page would be good enough.