What am I seeing in the Serial Monitor output?

Question

This is my code for using an HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor for motion detection using the Sinric Pro motion sensor sketch and combining with an Intructables code I found for the ultrasonic sensor. However, when I upload the code to my NodeMCU board, I get this output in Serial Monitor:

14:55:28.265 -> 
14:55:36.662 -> 
14:55:36.662 ->  ets Jan  8 2013,rst cause:4, boot mode:(3,6)
14:55:36.662 -> 
14:55:36.662 -> wdt reset
14:55:36.662 -> load 0x4010f000, len 3424, room 16 
14:55:36.662 -> tail 0
14:55:36.662 -> chksum 0x2e
14:55:36.662 -> load 0x3fff20b8, len 40, room 8 
14:55:36.662 -> tail 0
14:55:36.662 -> chksum 0x2b
14:55:36.662 -> csum 0x2b
14:55:36.662 -> v00065ae0
14:55:36.662 -> ~ld
14:55:36.727 -> ����n��r��n|�$�$`#��|r�l�o��N�l`��r�d����

Code:

#ifdef ENABLE_DEBUG
  #define DEBUG_ESP_PORT Serial
  #define NODEBUG_WEBSOCKETS
  #define NDEBUG
#endif

#include <Arduino.h>
#if defined(ESP8266)
  #include <ESP8266WiFi.h>
#elif defined(ESP32) || defined(ARDUINO_ARCH_RP2040)
  #include <WiFi.h>
#endif

#include "src/SinricPro.h"
#include "src/SinricProMotionsensor.h"

#define WIFI_SSID         ""    
#define WIFI_PASS         ""
#define APP_KEY           ""      // Should look like "de0bxxxx-1x3x-4x3x-ax2x-5dabxxxxxxxx"
#define APP_SECRET        ""   // Should look like "5f36xxxx-x3x7-4x3x-xexe-e86724a9xxxx-4c4axxxx-3x3x-x5xe-x9x3-333d65xxxxxx"
#define MOTIONSENSOR_ID   ""    // Should look like "5dc1564130xxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
#define BAUD_RATE         115200                // Change baudrate to your need

#define trigPin 6                      
#define echoPin 5                       

bool lastMotionState = false;
unsigned long lastChange = 0;

void handleMotionsensor() {
  unsigned long actualMillis = millis();
  if (actualMillis - lastChange < 250) return;          // debounce motionsensor state transitions (same as debouncing a pushbutton)

  int duration, distance;             //Define two intregers duration and distance to be used to save data
    digitalWrite(trigPin, HIGH);        //write a digital high to the trigpin to send out the pulse
    delayMicroseconds(500);             //wait half a millisecond
    digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);         //turn off the trigpin
    duration = pulseIn(echoPin, HIGH);  //measure the time using pulsein when the echo receives a signal set it to high
    distance = (duration/2) / 29.1;     //distance is the duration divided by 2 becasue the signal traveled from the trigpin then back to the echo pin, then devide by 29.1 to convert to centimeters
    bool actualMotionState = false;
    if (distance < 13)                  //if the distance is less than 13 CM
    {        
     Serial.print("Motion detected. ");                          //execute the Light subroutine below
    }
    
    Serial.print(distance);             //Dispaly the distance on the serial monitor 
    Serial.println(" CM");              //in centimeters
    delay(500);

  if (actualMotionState != lastMotionState) {         // if state has changed
    Serial.printf("Motion %s\r\n", actualMotionState?"detected":"not detected");
    lastMotionState = actualMotionState;              // update last known state
    lastChange = actualMillis;                        // update debounce time
    SinricProMotionsensor &myMotionsensor = SinricPro[MOTIONSENSOR_ID]; // get motion sensor device
    bool success = myMotionsensor.sendMotionEvent(actualMotionState);
    if(!success) {
      Serial.printf("Something went wrong...could not send Event to server!\r\n");
    }
  }
}

// setup function for WiFi connection
void setupWiFi() {
  Serial.printf("\r\n[Wifi]: Connecting");

  #if defined(ESP8266)
    WiFi.setSleepMode(WIFI_NONE_SLEEP); 
    WiFi.setAutoReconnect(true);
  #elif defined(ESP32)
    WiFi.setSleep(false); 
    WiFi.setAutoReconnect(true);
  #endif
  
  WiFi.begin(WIFI_SSID, WIFI_PASS);

  while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED) {
    Serial.printf(".");
  }
  IPAddress localIP = WiFi.localIP();
  Serial.printf("connected!\r\n[WiFi]: IP-Address is %d.%d.%d.%d\r\n", localIP[0], localIP[1], localIP[2], localIP[3]);
}

// setup function for SinricPro
void setupSinricPro() {
  // add device to SinricPro
  SinricProMotionsensor& myMotionsensor = SinricPro[MOTIONSENSOR_ID];

  // setup SinricPro
  SinricPro.onConnected([](){ Serial.printf("Connected to SinricPro\r\n"); });
  SinricPro.onDisconnected([](){ Serial.printf("Disconnected from SinricPro\r\n"); });
  SinricPro.begin(APP_KEY, APP_SECRET);
}

// main setup function
void setup() {
  Serial.begin(BAUD_RATE); Serial.printf("\r\n\r\n");

  pinMode(trigPin, OUTPUT);           //set the trigpin to output
  pinMode(echoPin, INPUT);

  setupWiFi();
  setupSinricPro();
}

void loop() {
  handleMotionsensor();
  SinricPro.handle();
}

I'm not sure if there's a problem with the way I've tried to combine the two codes or if its something else. Can someone help me by either identifying my mistake or by helping me find/create a new code?

Answer 1

14:55:36.727 -> ����n��r��n|�$�$#��|r�l�o��N�l��r�d����

1. That's likely because your Arduino Serial Monitor speed is set to a different speed than what you have set in the sketch (115200). Try setting your Arduino Serial Monitor speed to 115200

2. You are trying to use an ultrasonic sensor rather than a motion sensor (PIR/Microwave) to detect motion this can be done but cumbersome. You will need to add additional logic to stop sending repeated motion-detected events. so try using a motion sensor instead of an ultrasonic sensor if you are a beginner. You can find the motion sensor tutorial here: https://help.sinric.pro/pages/tutorials/motion-sensors/HC-SR501-HC-SR505-AM312-HC-SR312

There's an ultrasonic sensor tutorial that might help you to get an idea if you are still going to use an ultrasonic sensor: https://help.sinric.pro/pages/tutorials/custom-device-types/ultrasonic-sensor/HC-SR04. Try coding to detect motion without Sinric Pro and then try integrating it