Arduino Interface with Gate Opener

Projects General Guidance
1

Hello,

I am trying to make an arduino interface with a gate opener. The gate controller board has a trigger pin, that either opens or closes the gate when it is connected to ground. I need my arduino to activate this trigger.

I can see the gate controller board is based on an Atmega chip set and there is 5v that I can use to power my arduino.

I believe since my arduino will be on the same circuit as the gate controller board and they share a common ground, I can skip a relay and simply use an arduino output set to LOW to trigger the gate. Does this make sense?

My question is, what state should the arduino pin be on when not triggering the gate? I am unsure what a 5v HIGH signal would do to the gate controller board. Would it damage it? Or should the pin be set as an input when not triggering the gate?

Thanks everyone for your help.

2

(deleted)

3

My guess is that the pin has a pull-up on it (otherwise it would erratically close the gate). Probably setting it OUTPUT and LOW, would be adequate for closing the gate, and then INPUT to open it.

However as spycatcher2k said, I would measure it. There might be 12V on the pin, which won't be good for the Arduino. An opto-isolator might be useful here.

4

Thanks guys that answered my question. I'll test it soon and see if it works :slight_smile: