I'm looking into automating my garage door. The general idea is to open the door as my car pulls up the driveway and to close the door as my car leaves.
The existing opening/closing mechanism needs a 5V impulse to actuate.
My questions are about the hardware I want to use to detect my car:
The concept I figured out so far uses two µC (e.g. Arduino Nano Every), one located in the garage and one in my car. The one in the garage is connected to some kind of distance sensor which is meant to detect whether the car is inside the garage. It may also have a switch which returns if the door is actually open or closed.
The µC in my car is basically a transmitter (maybe using an NRF-module?) which is recognized by a receiver on the garage-µC. I want this transmitter to send a ping every few seconds so the garage-µC can recognize a car pulling up or leaving.
So first of all, I want to know if you think this concept will work..?
If so, here are my questions about the hardware:
What kind of sensor would you recommend using to detect a car in the garage? Ultrasonic, Lidar, PIR...?
What transmitter-receiver-combination would be ideal to sense a car pulling up/leaving? It should have a range of 5-10 meters. Is there a possible solution for a "passive" transmitter which doesn't need power?
Are the capabilities of an Arduino Nano Every sufficient for this project?
A very important point to me is also how I will be able to keep the power usage of both µC as low as possible so that they can run off a battery for a decent amount of time?
I know this is a rather crude concept and a lot of open issues but I hope that you can help me!
You don't have to give an answer to all of this questions at all, feel free to answer what you know or share what you think!
gilshultz:
Just something to think about what happens if you get a false trip and the car or somebody is under the door?
There is still a remote in the car and a button in the garage to stop the (rather slow moving) door so that shouldn't be an issue. Nevertheless, thanks for your answer!
How about ITTT routine, geofence the phone so when you are close it opens the door via alexa/home hub and something like sinric? As you leave it knows and closes the door. Additionally you could then open and close with Alexa or Google Hub App on your phone or home. Bit of feedback with a security microswitch would tell you if it is closed.
You also need consider security, unless of course your garage is an empty box unless your car is in there?
The original door controller should stop the door top and bottom, and if fitted a light break sensor disables the door if anything is in the way. if like mine then this control mimics a key switch into the door controller. That’s what I did. Although mine isn’t geofenced, I have to get on my WiFi to control it which offers some security.
How about ITTT routine, geofence the phone so when you are close it opens the door via alexa/home hub and something like sinric? As you leave it knows and closes the door. Additionally you could then open and close with Alexa or Google Hub App on your phone or home. Bit of feedback with a security microswitch would tell you if it is closed.
It's pretty interesting mechanism and automation options. I like to make such interesting and innovative things in my house as well. What online blogs can you recommend with articles, where I can get more interesting ideas? I know one site here ( link: https://delmarlifestylepubs.com/ ), it's awesome because it opened my eyes on many things, on which I didn't pay attention.