LED indicator for garage door

Projects General Guidance
1

First of all I guess this is a question of feasibility.

My problem is that I very often forget to close the garage door during the day (I usually have numerous errands there and leave the door open). This of course pops into mind when I'm walking from my bathroom to my sleeping room when going to bed, undressed. I can't see the garage door from my front door, so I have the choice between putting my clothes on and go outside to check, or just outside nude and hope nobody sees me..

What I want to do is have a "sensor" (simple roller switch?) that senses if the garage door is open, in which case it for instance lights an led next to the garage door switch inside the house (the switch for the garage door is next to the front door). The switch is a simple switch, shorting two wires (24V), which either opens the door if it's closed, or closes it if it's open, it's not nescessary to keep the switch pressed for it to operate. I don't know if this drives a relay or just sends a signal to a microprocessor inside the garage door opener.

Is there a way to come up with something without having to pull out more wires between the house and the garage, but instead only use the existing two wires to control both the light (LED) and simultaneously control the garage door opener?

My thoughts so far:

  1. An arduino connected to the wires from the garage port opener via a 5V regulator, or powered by a wall adapter. The sensor is close to the garagedoor opener on the ceiling, connected to the arduino with two short wires.

  2. The led can perhaps be controlled by the polarity of voltage across the wires, and the arduino can control this polarity based on the state of the sensor, perhaps by the use of an H-bridge connected between the garage door opener and the garage door switch? If the door is open the polarity will be so that current flows through the led + resistor (+ in series with extra diode? Don't know the reverse voltage of the leds I have), or if it's closed the polarity is set so that it doesn't - and the led remains unlit.

Does this sound like it could be feasible?

2

just wear your clothes in home and thats it XD
you don't need arduino, just buy push button and connect it to the door and that's it
make it on battary 9V or adapter
if you want make it wireless then you need arduino,
and buy the way you can make it from cheap rc car under 10$ and make it wireless :wink: use your imagination

buy cheep rc car, open the remote controll, solder the push button to any button, open your rc car, and solder a LED to the same option you use on the rc remote, COME OOOON thats not need any help

3

narzan:
just wear your clothes in home and thats it XD
you don't need arduino, just buy push button and connect it to the door and that's it
make it on battary 9V or adapter
if you want make it wireless then you need arduino,
and buy the way you can make it from cheap rc car under 10$ and make it wireless

The garage door switch is a push button, but there's no way to tell whether the garage door is open or closed. If it's open and I press the button it closes, if it's already closed it will open. There are only two wires going between the garage and the house.

4

put a push button on the door and that's it
look at the attached file

New Bitmap Image.jpg

5

narzan:
put a push button on the door and that's it
look at the attached file

Yes, but then I will have to pull out more cables between the house and the garage?

6

no use cheap rc car its wireless here :fearful:

if you want additional option ok
use ultrasonic arduino xbee !! thats will cost you alot i think

my option only in 10$ and wireless XD

i have other idea, just with one arduino and you not need to any wire XD
remove you push button to other one with 4 legs 2 legs to the door and 2 for arduino
the arduino will know this push for open or for close, its just count how many time you push
first push for open led on
second push led off and like that

7

Of course, if you only use that switch to close the garage door, and don't use it for anything else, you're golden - just put a switch on the door in series with one of the wires, so the switch inside will only be connected if the door is open :stuck_out_tongue:

Only thing I can think of (other than re-purposing a remote control car or something) is to cut the wires to the indoor switch at the garage, and replace it with a relay. Pulsing that relay will open or close the door. Now you have 2 wires into the house that go to a switch...

DPDT switch on door, connecting a DC supply to one of the two wires through a pullup resistor, and DC GND to the other. That way, the position of the door determines the polarity on the two wires, and you just need LED+Resistor in the switch plate, so it'll be on only in one polarity.

Then, either - with arduino:
Use 5v DC supply. Watch both wires with digitalRead(), and when they're both the same for more than a few milliseconds (indicating the expected hiccup as the switch changes state).

Or without arduino (can use higher DC voltage)

Divide the DC supply in half with a pair of resistors, and feed that into one side of both comparators on an LM393. other two wires from the house into the inputs, then pipe the outputs into an AND (or NOR, depending on which side of the comparators you used), with pullups since it's open drain... output of that logic gate drives the relay (probably through a MOSFET). Issue I see though, is triggering when the door opens or closes (changing the state of the switch) - which could cause it to just keep opening and closing until something breaks. Put a cap (or maybe an RC) between the output of the logic gate and the MOSFET gate to filter out very short pulses.

8

still rc car more easy XD
or put a paper and count how many times you push that button :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

9

DrAzzy:
Of course, if you only use that switch to close the garage door, and don't use it for anything else, you're golden - just put a switch on the door in series with one of the wires, so the switch inside will only be connected if the door is open :stuck_out_tongue:

Only thing I can think of (other than re-purposing a remote control car or something) is to cut the wires to the indoor switch at the garage, and replace it with a relay. Pulsing that relay will open or close the door. Now you have 2 wires into the house that go to a switch...

DPDT switch on door, connecting a DC supply to one of the two wires through a pullup resistor, and DC GND to the other. That way, the position of the door determines the polarity on the two wires, and you just need LED+Resistor in the switch plate, so it'll be on only in one polarity.

Then, either - with arduino:
Use 5v DC supply. Watch both wires with digitalRead(), and when they're both the same for more than a few milliseconds (indicating the expected hiccup as the switch changes state).

Or without arduino (can use higher DC voltage)

Divide the DC supply in half with a pair of resistors, and feed that into one side of both comparators on an LM393. other two wires from the house into the inputs, then pipe the outputs into an AND (or NOR, depending on which side of the comparators you used), with pullups since it's open drain... output of that logic gate drives the relay (probably through a MOSFET). Issue I see though, is triggering when the door opens or closes (changing the state of the switch) - which could cause it to just keep opening and closing until something breaks. Put a cap (or maybe an RC) between the output of the logic gate and the MOSFET gate to filter out very short pulses.

Nice!

I use the switch to both open and close the door. I can try to make a simple circuit diagram of what I had in mind.

The reason I want to use the arduino is so that I eventually can mount an ultrasonic sensor so that I eventually can change it to sense if the car is in the garage.

10

narzan:
still rc car more easy XD
or put a paper and count how many times you push that button :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

I have quite a lot of rc equipment, but I it's too expensive to risk. Also I don't have time to wait several weeks for cheaper rc gear :slight_smile:

I know I could have a "manual" way of keeping track of the presses, but as I also have a wireless control in the car which I sometimes use, as well as a switch inside the garage it would be quite a lot to keep track of.

11

Firstly the issue if using the same 2 wires for signalling and control

This is possible as long as you don't mind if the led goes out briefly as you push the button to close the door.

E.g. If you disconnect the 24 v lines from the door motor control, that go to the switch, and instead have an arduino that drives a relay that closes the circuit as if the button indoors had been pressed.

I did the same thing with my garage door as the remote control receiver inside the door motor assembly packed up.

To get the switch to also show a led when its open, you need to build a circuit that will supply 2 different voltages to the switch and led assembly.

For example 1v or possibly 2v when the door is closed, and 5v or perhaps 12v when the door is open.

Then if you put the led in series with a resistor e.g 1k, and put this mini circuit in parallel with the switch, the led will not light if the switch is only receiving 1v but if the door is open and the switch receives 12v, the led would light

The trick is sensing the difference between the load of the led on wires to the switch compared with the short circuit when the switch is pressed.
E.g. Assuming the led takes 20ma, you need to arrange the circuit at the motor end, so that in a short circuit of the switch being closed, takes perhaps twice that current e.g.may be 100ma

Hence you need a lower value resistor at the motor end e.g. 100ohms

You then sense the voltage drop across the 100 ohm using the arduino which gives you the current flow, and if it greater than a specific value, the switch must have been pushed and the arduino needs to trigger the relay to operate the switch input to the motor

I guess a diagram would help here but as I'm typing this on an ipad, I can't do that right now. :wink:

12

you can use one ultrasonic sensor for both car and garage door
if the door is open print "door is open" on the LCD 16*2
if the door is closed print "door is closed"
if the door is open and someone steal your car give a beep or warning from buzzer
just measure the destines :wink:

i attached files, how to setup ultrasonic sensor on the door, don't forget there is a dead zone the sensor can't see it, best is 35 degree
or read the datasheet of the sensor
i recommended hc-sr04
don't forget to download the newer library for the sensor for better ping and stability

garage.png
garage.png725×453 43.4 KB

garage 2.bmp (1.15 MB)

3 stage.bmp (531 KB)

13

i am also in the process of building a remote garage door opener and i am having an issue with the door switch also. I have the pin set to go to the relay that i'm going to use, but i cannot get it to switch from off to on to off. i dont want the relay to be locked on. i only need it momentarily like a normal door button.

I'm going to be using a nano, 2 channel relay, and an ethernet shield.