Garage door monitoring and control

[ChrisCragg]

My controller, as I suspect most other users is, is in my garage, mere feet from my garage door and opener. Since OpenSprinkler has an internet connection and some open GPIO pins, I think it would be cool to add two new items: the ability to monitor the garage door status, and the ability to open/close the door. Sounds pretty basic to me. Should only need to use 2 of the digital pins and minor software change to test the status of pin 1, and to manipulate pin 2. Thoughts?

[Ray]

OpenSprinkler does have a few GPIO pins for reading sensor values and actuating devices. For controlling garage door, you may want to look into examples of RF remote control: most garage door remotes work in 434 or 315MHz RF range. You can capture the remote control signal and simulate it using an RF transmitter plus on microcontroller pin. I have a blog post about this:
http://rayshobby.net/?p=3381

[ChrisCragg]

I was just going to hardwire it to the opener, since its just a 20 ft wire run.

[virtus]

Hi Ray – I just wanted to chime in and say that this would be a great addition that should be easily added to Opensprinkler.

The RF route is extreme overkill for most applications. You probably already know this but most home automation people simply add a relay to the line that runs to the button that opens/closes the garage from inside the garage. There are several examples of people doing this (and remotely controlling the relay with something like a z-wave controlled outlet) – here’s one I found on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8RtzUgupDI

I’m not an electrical engineer, but it seems like Opensprinkler already has most of what is needed to make this work and this would really get the attention of the home automation market.

Determining whether the door is open or closed could be tricky (or added later) but I think it could be as simple as adding an open/closed loop sensor that you typically find in security systems for < $10. So a little guidance and code could really expand your market.

[virtus]

Here’s a quick thought and a question – it looks like this can be done by connecting one of the OpenSprinkler stations to a simple 24vac NO relay placed on the line that goes to the button inside the garage. Some garage openers are more complicated, but some are so basic that they use a doorbell to close the circuit.

Anyway if that’s the case could I use the following HTTP commands to open / close the door?

http://x.x.x.x/cv?pw=password&mm=1 ‘switch to manual mode (required to manually turn on a station)
http://x.x.x.x/sn1=1&t=2 ‘activate the relay for 2 seconds
http://x.x.x.x/cv?pw=password&mm=0 ‘switch back to program mode

Also, what effect does changing to manual mode have if the system is currently in the middle of a program? Does the program stop?

[kkpwrh2o]

You guys are reading my mind…

My OSPi will also be located in the garage less than 5 feet from one of my garage door opener buttons.

It is my next home automation project right behind the OSPi project. It would be fantastic to be able to control the garage doors and sense their position via a smart phone/webapp.

I really like the idea of the 24v relay being controlled by one of the triacs on the OSPi and using alarm reed switches for position feedback.

I have no doubt Samer, Ray, and the rest of the clever people on this forum could help us make this magic happen.

Regards,
Kevin

[virtus]

So I see four parts to this:

Wiring / connection to the garage door opener buttons. We just need to find a suitable 24VAC NO relay – should be easy
Open / close software control . This is basically done already since we’re just using an existing station – so it’s already built into the software.
(Optional) Garage door sensor – It would be easy to add a contact sensor to a garage door for someone who is a little handy. Connecting it to the OpenSprinkler might be a different story (not sure what’s available on the board). Also we’d likely need room for at least two sensors since many people have 2 or more garage doors.
(Optional) Software update to allow us to query the status of the door – Again, should be doable if the OS board can be connected to a sensor – but this definately isn’t my area of expertise.

I haven’t even received my OS Pi yet (should be here this week), so I won’t be able to tinker with any of this for a while. I’m considering handling the door-status sensing with my alarm system, but it would be so much easier if the OS could just handle everything via HTTP commands.

[virtus]

another update… Garage status code

This is all air code since I don’t have the OSpi yet, but I had a few minutes to kill this morning – so here goes. Since RPi.GPIO is being used by the interval program anyway, I should be able to connect a reed sensor directly to the RPi’s GPIO pins. If so, could I use the recently added ospi_addon.py functionality to get the status of the reed switch? Here’s an example (python is pretty far from my native programming language!):

#!/usr/bin/python

import ospi



#### Add any new page urls here ####

ospi.urls.extend([

'/gds', 'get_door_status',

])



class get_door_status:

"""Return a page containing the status of garage door sensor"""

def GET(self):

custpg = 'n'

door1_pin = 23

if GPIO.input(door1_pin):

custpg += 'TRUE'

else:

custpg += 'FALSE'



return custpg

I just want to be able to use an HTTP command to find out if the door is open or closed. This would need to be expanded to handle multiple door sensors.

[Ray]

@virtus wrote:

The RF route is extreme overkill for most applications.

I understand, but personally I hate running long wires. I think RF is a more elegant solution, plus one transmitter can be programmed to talk to multiple devices. On the other hand, hard-wired solutions are more robust for sure.

[kkpwrh2o]

Sprinkler valves have long wires 😆

[virtus]

@ray wrote:

@virtus wrote:

The RF route is extreme overkill for most applications.

I understand, but personally I hate running long wires. I think RF is a more elegant solution, plus one transmitter can be programmed to talk to multiple devices. On the other hand, hard-wired solutions are more robust for sure.

I agree about the wires – we just moved into a new home and the previous owners put the sprinker control unit in the back yard right next to the control valves. I guess they hated long wires too! I’m going to buy some longer wires and move it into the garage where it’s more secure and has better protection from the elements. I’m not too excited about leaving a wlan-connected device sitting out in the open.

Wireless makes sense if the unit isn’t in the garage. But I prefer the simplicity, security, and cost effectiveness of hardwiring it since my unit will be in the garage. For a simpleton like me the hardwiring is easier and quicker than sniffing out the RF codes.

Also, since this mod deals with a potential security issue (garage door access to a home), I’m trying to limit the complexity and number of wireless connections – so the OSpi will be connected via ethernet and all the garage door connections will be wired. So the main vulnerabilities will be the garage door opener itself and any internet weaknesses. Still not perfect, but it’s a start.

[wyone]

I LOVE the idea of both controlling and monitoring our garage door. I have been using the open sprinkler for a couple months now and LOVE both the hardware and software.

I have thought about adding the door control for a while as the kids seem to have this habit of not making sure the door completely shut before they leave and I have come home several times, or went to leave in the AM to find the door open.

I am a Master Electrician so the wiring is a non issue for me, and I think it would be more secure to use a hardwired connection. The sensor to monitor door status could be a simple alarm magnetic alarm switch. That could be mounted anywhere along the door frame or even on the concrete floor with the right sensor. It could be a simple 2 wire connection.. when the door is in the closed position it would either make or break a connection, and in any other position it has the opposite effect. The wiring could be all low voltage doorbell type wiring. The same wire could be installed to either the open closed button or the opener itself to control it.

I am anxious to hear what ideas all of you smart people come up with. I have no experience with programming, but it seems I may need to. This could be a start to building Rays project into a robust home automation system that is actually USER designed. I have used and experimented with several home automation systems and they never seem to be flexible enough for my needs.

Anyway, I am looking forward to following this thread. Thanks in advance!

[mickeyshowers]

Can one of the Mods turn on the “Subscribe” feature in the forum? There are a few threads like this one that I’d like to keep a close eye on.

[Ray]

I think the subscribe feature is already enabled. At least on my side, there is a ‘Subscribe to topic’ check box at the bottom of every thread. Let me know if you can’t find it.

[virtus]

Got my OSPi yesterday and it’s already running in place of the old sprinkler controller. Next step is to pick up some reed/contact switches and connect them to the RPi and test the code. Hopefully I’ll have that hammered out in the next couple of days. These will be initally connected to the RPi’s GPIO pins for simplicity and to avoid soldering for now.

Final step will be to add the relays – I’m considering using the RPi’s GPIO pins here too instead of the OS since I’ve used up all my stations and would need to order the OS zone expansion kit (need at least two more stations for my garage doors). However, I think it would ultimately be better to to use the OS expansion board since the software already supports controlling the doors (through HTTP commands) and the connections are easier. And that should translate to more people buying expansion boards from Ray.

[PabloS]

I just saw this garage door topic thread and thought I join in.

The idea of using a spare garage door transmitter to control my two garage doors seems to be the less complicated.

Since the OSPi system drives solenoids for the sprinkler valves, and the solenoids I use are less than $10 at Home Depot, how hard do you think it would be to build a mount so that a solenoid plunger could push a transmitter button? The plunger on the Hunter solenoids I use don’t have much movement and they move inward not outward. Does anyone know of any 24Vac solenoids that “push” outward and have at least a 1/4 to 3/4 inch movement?

It might be fun to build this as a project. 8^)

[virtus]

@PabloS wrote:

The idea of using a spare garage door transmitter to control my two garage doors seems to be the less complicated.

Since the OSPi system drives solenoids for the sprinkler valves, and the solenoids I use are less than $10 at Home Depot, how hard do you think it would be to build a mount so that a solenoid plunger could push a transmitter button? …

I’ve seen people mod the transmitter. Generally they open the transmitter and put a relay between the button contacts. So basically it’s the same method I’m going to attempt, but they are using the transmitter button instead of the wall button.

Using a plunger would work too, but it will require some sort of anchoring/framework what would keep everything lined up correctly. It would probably be bulkier and more prone to mechanical failure. But it might be simpler to implement if you don’t want crack open a transmitter.

[craigmw]

There are several implementations out there using an RPi to check the status of the garage door, including the following which has a web server:

http://ryanfx.blogspot.com/2013/06/raspberry-pi-powered-android-controlled.html

This could likely run on the same RPi running OSPi. Of course, it would be more fun and educational to “roll your own.”

[craigmw]

Our garage has three doors with openers, and I was thinking about a way to use Insteon home automation to automate them. But, with an OSPi in the garage, this would potentially address this for much cheaper. The current sprinkler timer for the front yard is in the garage and only has four stations. So, a possible solution would be to use three unused outputs on the OSPi to control the doors and then use three open GPIO pins to connect to sensors (e.g. reed switches) to detect when the doors are open. To control the doors, the outputs could be wired in parallel with the manual pushbutton switches via 24V AC relays. As the output triacs could be controlled by HTTP GET commands, it would be possible to use the OSPi interval program daemon to control the doors. It would simply be necessary to provide a front end to deal with the GPIO sensors. It would also be possible to set up the program to send off an email or text message informing one that a door is open, which could be handy. It would obviously be important to not schedule those outputs in a program though. Having the garage doors open at 4:00 AM would not be a good thing. 😯

Actually, on the new OSPi board, there are four ADC inputs that could also be used for sensing. It might be interesting if Ray would consider developing an extension board with relays instead of triacs so it would be possible to control low voltage DC signals for this purpose. I agree that this could be a very handy extension of the OSPi’s functionality, especially considering that many have their sprinkler timers set up in the garage.

[virtus]

@craigmw wrote:

There are several implementations out there using an RPi to check the status of the garage door, including the following which has a web server:

http://ryanfx.blogspot.com/2013/06/raspberry-pi-powered-android-controlled.html

This could likely run on the same RPi running OSPi. Of course, it would be more fun and educational to “roll your own.”

That’s funny because I was looking at the exact same hardware yesterday. However, he uses a 2-relay board and I’ll probably get the 4-relay board from the same manufacturer – just in case I need an extra relay at some point. Plus it’s only a couple bucks more than the 2 relay version.

It’s also worth noting that the magnetic sensor that he uses is relatively weak – it requires the contacts to be within .25″ of each other to be closed. On a garage door I’d prefer something with a little more wiggle room (like .5″ – 1″).

I really enjoyed the info about his authentication system.

[craigmw]

@PabloS wrote:

I just saw this garage door topic thread and thought I join in.

The idea of using a spare garage door transmitter to control my two garage doors seems to be the less complicated.

Since the OSPi system drives solenoids for the sprinkler valves, and the solenoids I use are less than $10 at Home Depot, how hard do you think it would be to build a mount so that a solenoid plunger could push a transmitter button? The plunger on the Hunter solenoids I use don’t have much movement and they move inward not outward. Does anyone know of any 24Vac solenoids that “push” outward and have at least a 1/4 to 3/4 inch movement?

It might be fun to build this as a project. 8^)

I think all of the solenoids designed for automated sprinkler valves pull in when powered. A better way would be to get a relay that could handle the 24VAC (on the actuator side) and wire the switched side in parallel with the pushbutton. Usually, the pushbuttons have screw terminals inside that connect to the control wire for the garage door opener. It would be simple to just add two additional wires to those terminals that connect to the contacts of the relay(s).

[Jer]

Watching this thread with some interest as I currently have a solution that isn’t meeting my expectations. It’s something I threw together and due to something in the firmware it’s having an unintended fatal flaw.

Currently I have two garage door openers. I bought two of the older Foscam security cameras (I have 9 in total) that have a relay output for being able to connect to security systems. There are four pins and across two of the pins it sends 3v so it was easy to simply back feed each camera into the manual button location (+ & -) on the overhead opener. This way I can use a phone app to easily trigger this as a toggle to open and close each garage door individually. I can also use the cameras in the same app to check status of the doors quickly since all of my cameras are on the same screen.

Now, the bad: It sends a 3v pulse as an ‘all clear’ should power be lost. This means that if power is ever lost to the cameras once it’s returned and they boot back up my garage door will open on it’s own. To circumvent this I’ve added a UPS to power these to prevent a potential power loss from opening my garage doors. I thought I had it all figured out even though we RARELY lose power in this area (maybe once in the last ten years or more) but there’s a glitch I wasn’t planning for. In the summer it gets hot enough that the cameras lose connection with the network for some reason. Then I have to climb up on a ladder to physically unplug the power input from each camera and plug it back in to reset (since the actual power is on UPS which is above the ceiling in the garage) the connection so they open. I’m going to set up a PoE on the network to have a central place to control power on all of my cameras (not to mention put on UPS easily) but am feeling that this solution is still less than ideal as I’m a stickler for security and while it adds convenience (I use it ALL the time from all over the country) it’s introducing a security breach that I’m just not comfortable with. I also am suspecting that it’s the cheap power sources that are dying under high heat but if it’s the camera itself than my PoE solution won’t correct this. It will just make it easier to reboot them when they crap out.

Fast forward to a while back and I have an OpenSprinkler system. I’m wondering if one could use my system (the cameras) to monitor and then use a couple of outputs on the OpenSprinkler to trigger the doors. Sort of combine both solutions to make it easier. Granted you would need a smart phone to view the camera and they’re not cheap at about $70ish but it’s also nice to be able to physically see your garage area versus just knowing the doors are open/closed. Obviously the $70 would net you some more benefits but I realize this may not be something everyone wants.

I would need a 3v output and a way to make it a short pulse. I’m thinking I could use the screen on the web UI to trigger one of those two zones for a second and that would probably be enough. Granted it wouldn’t be as streamlined as my current setup but it would also eliminate the problem of random door triggers.

Thoughts?

[PabloS]

I’ve decided using any solenoids to “push” a garage door remote button won’t work.

I started with using an old doorbell. Even a new one at Home Depot costs $10. The one I have actually has two long-stroke plungers in a dual solenoid package. Seemed like a perfect idea. The spacing between the plungers would have worked on the remote I was going to use. The remote would have had to been at a slight angle to the solenoids, but the spacing was nearly perfect.

The deciding factors to not go this route was several-fold. The doorbell transformer was 16Vac not 24Vac. I tried them with a 24Vac transformer and they would strike the doorbells (tampered to decrease the noise to a clunking sound) with even more force. I measured the current draw from the 24Vac transformer and recorded a sustained current of about 1A. Not a good thing. Second, the striking power was good and hard but the solenoid coil couldn’t provide sustained force on the buttons of the remote. It could punch hard but couldn’t sustain the button push long enough to operate the door. Plus, the solenoids 60Hz “humming” was enough to warrant some concern.

I think a relay configuration will be my best option. I’ve even thought about using the doorbell dual-solenoid to make home-grown relay connections. The current draw and humming makes that unlikely. I don’t want to risk a few bucks on a potential fire hazard.

[cjenifer123]

Replace an existing wall switch with the Keypad Linc, set up your I/O Linc Garage Door Control & Status Kit and wireless link one button on the Keypad Linc to the I/O Linc. Now when the garage door opens, the LED on that button will light up. Press the button to close the garage. It’s that simple. Easily expand the other unused buttons on the Keypad Linc to control the garage lights or any other light in the house. Just add additional INSTEON-compatible wall switches or plug-in modules to the lights you want to control.

[Author]

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