Universal Arduino gesture detection using low-cost sensors (IR proximity and HC-SR04 ultrasonic).
Detect swipe left/right/up/down, tap/hover, and circle (CW/CCW) with simple, affordable hardware.

• Supports digital IR proximity sensors and HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensors.
• Detects Swipe L/R/U/D (2 sensors) and Circle CW/CCW (4 sensors in a square).
• Adjustable distance threshold, debounce, and gesture timeout.
• Callback API for easy event handling.
• Works on Arduino Uno/Nano/MEGA, ESP32/ESP8266, STM32 and more.

• IR Proximity (digital output): e.g., KY-032, Sharp digital modules, TCRT5000-style digital boards.
• Ultrasonic HC-SR04.

You can mix sensor types in the same layout.

Add sensors in clockwise order: 0=Top-Left, 1=Top-Right, 2=Bottom-Right, 3=Bottom-Left.

#include <MultiGestureLib.h>

MultiGestureLib g;

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  // Two IR digital sensors on pins 2 and 3 (added left then right)
  g.addProximitySensor(2); // Left
  g.addProximitySensor(3); // Right
  g.setLayout(MGL_LAYOUT_HORIZONTAL);
  g.setProximityActiveHigh(false); // most IR modules pull LOW when near
  g.setDebounceMs(50);
  g.setSwipeTimeout(500); // ms
  g.onSwipeLeft([](){ Serial.println("Swipe Left"); });
  g.onSwipeRight([](){ Serial.println("Swipe Right"); });
}

void loop() {
  g.update();
}

#include <MultiGestureLib.h>

MultiGestureLib g;

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  // Two HC-SR04 sensors (added top then bottom)
  g.addUltrasonicSensor(4,5);  // TRIG=4, ECHO=5 (Top)
  g.addUltrasonicSensor(6,7);  // TRIG=6, ECHO=7 (Bottom)
  g.setLayout(MGL_LAYOUT_VERTICAL);
  g.setThresholdCm(25);  // consider "present" if within 25 cm
  g.setDebounceMs(70);
  g.setSwipeTimeout(600);
  g.onSwipeUp([](){ Serial.println("Swipe Up"); });
  g.onSwipeDown([](){ Serial.println("Swipe Down"); });
}

void loop() {
  g.update();
}

#include <MultiGestureLib.h>
MultiGestureLib g;

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);
  // Add 4 sensors clockwise: TL, TR, BR, BL (mix types allowed)
  g.addProximitySensor(2);        // TL
  g.addProximitySensor(3);        // TR
  g.addUltrasonicSensor(4,5);     // BR
  g.addUltrasonicSensor(6,7);     // BL
  g.setLayout(MGL_LAYOUT_QUAD);
  g.setThresholdCm(25);
  g.onCircleCW([](){ Serial.println("Circle CW"); });
  g.onCircleCCW([](){ Serial.println("Circle CCW"); });
}

void loop() { g.update(); }

• void addProximitySensor(uint8_t pin, bool pullup=true)
• void addUltrasonicSensor(uint8_t trigPin, uint8_t echoPin)
• void setLayout(MGL_Layout layout) where layout is one of MGL_LAYOUT_HORIZONTAL, MGL_LAYOUT_VERTICAL, MGL_LAYOUT_QUAD
• void setProximityActiveHigh(bool activeHigh)
• void setThresholdCm(uint8_t cm) (ultrasonic presence threshold, default 25 cm)
• void setDebounceMs(uint16_t ms)
• void setSwipeTimeout(uint16_t ms)
• void onSwipeLeft(void (*cb)()), onSwipeRight(...), onSwipeUp(...), onSwipeDown(...)
• void onCircleCW(void (*cb)()), void onCircleCCW(void (*cb)())
• void update()

• Debounce prevents false toggles.
• Swipe is detected when two distinct sensors activate in order within swipeTimeout.
• Circle (CW/CCW) is detected when all four sensors activate sequentially clockwise or counter-clockwise within swipeTimeout * 2.

MIT — do anything, just keep the license. MIT License

Copyright (c) 2025 Herobrine Sah

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

Made for makers. Built to be extended. :)