Remote Controlled Gate

Projects General Guidance
1

Hi all,

I am trying to put together a system on a garden gate so that my wife can easily get in the house (via a back garden gate near where she parks) with her arms full off shopping and the little boy so hands free is the goal.

The gate in question is actually a double gate but one stays pretty much fixed unless I'm shifting anything large in/out. So for the sake of simplicity its just a single inward opening door.

My plan:

I already have armoured cable throughout the garden so as there's no problem getting power there I'm intending to fit an electric deadbolt/latch to handle the lock/unlock.

Where my plans start to fall into question however are with the open/close. In the interest of being cash and energy efficient I'm staying away from most commercial opening devices I've managed to find, £200+ is out of the question.

My thinking instead is that I will use a spring and winch combination but I'm not sure if this is the best way to go about things???

Operation:
The system will be controlled by a 2 button key fob with open / close
When open is pressed the winch will power on momentarily to release any pressure on the lock and the lock will be disengaged. The winch will then disable and allow the spring to open the gate unwinding the winch and allowing access.

When close is pressed the winch will then power on pulling the gate closed and re-tensioning the spring. When the closed position is reached (initially time delayed but to be upgraded to a contact plate) the deadbolt/latch will then re-engage and the winch will power down.

Spring: £5-10
Electric Deadbolt: £15-40
Winch: £50 - £300

Given the impractical pricing of the winch and the short distance of line required (aprx. 1.5 meter) I'll probably just put my own together from an old motor, I have a few lying around that are a bit overkill but I'll find another lower wattage somewhere to replace it with in time.

Also has anyone had experience with these electric deadbolts and able to comment on their reliability?

So- Is this a practical but more importantly reliable design?

Dan

2

I've never built anything like that... But, a couple of thoughts...

If you don't need to actually open the gate, but just unlatch it so she can easily push it open, you might be able to rig-up a solenoid. And if you really want to keep the cost down, I assume you can get a remote automobile door-lock solenoid cheaply from a junk yard.

You can also simplify the electronics a lot if you can use something like a doorbell button, rather than a transmitter/receiver. You may be able to use a small spring, so that the gate opens an inch or so when triggered, or use a 555 timer circuit to hold the solenoid for several seconds after the button is pushed, giving her time to push the gate open, after pushing the button. (If there's an actual lock, not just a latch, that won't work).

3

(Took my time getting back to you on this!! :blush:)

Thanks for your input, I think I'm going to give up the opening mechanism as that is the only difficult / expensive part in this system and you're right she should be able to push it open.

I think then I'll just have a gentle spring push it back to a closed position so she can then lock it remotely without having to leave the house and correct it's position.

Good call on the auto-mobile door lock mechanism also, that should pretty much do everything I need. I'll let you know how it turns out :slight_smile: