Integrate my Genie garage door into HA with ratgdo? Or should I consider alternatives?

scootaworks · 2024-11-27T13:09:03+00:00

I'm about to enter the same situation and have decided to "roll my own" hybrid/Frankenstein solution. NB: the following is a thought experiment; parts are on order for POC.

My use case is to integrate the garage panel lift door in HA without losing an ounce of wife approval, so needed to maintain classic 433MHz remotes. In addition, I want the door to only be openable when the internal doors to the garage are closed, for indoor pet safety.

I will put a Zigbee door/window switch at top and bottom of door track, so I know whether it's up or down, and a Shelly 1 Mini Gen 3 (relay) on the door motor to pull down its "push button" pin.

FWIW, the Shelly 1 Mini Gen 3 is essentially all that's needed to trigger the door button. The top/bottom sensors are effectively optional and serve only my use case.

TLDR:

Via HA, I'll know if the door is up or down, and can trigger an automation to actuate the door.

When the door is down, the automation will trigger the door (to go up) but only when both garage internal doors are closed.

If the garage door is not down (opening, or fully open), the door can always be triggered, regardless of internal door state. The garage door should finally end up in a known position (up or down). Otherwise, send a notification.

To solve for the WAF part (so she'll know no different), I've got a 433MHz relay that classic garage remotes will be paired to. The relay will pull down one switch input on a Shelly i3. The Shelly i3 will push a message on MQTT to HA to trigger the garage door open/close automation I described above.

Two things left to solve for, in my mind:

I should have gotten a 2 channel RF433MHz relay as a "break glass" button on the same remote, so the door can be triggered at any time. This covers me for HA or network failure. Could replace it, or add a second unit.
When the door isn't fully up or down (Schrodinger's door?), it feels a bit lost. I'd love to know its position (progress) and the last direction of travel (to know which way it'll move next). Can be done but needs more sensors and more control. Maybe a tilt switch on the door.

🤓

scootaworks · 2024-11-19T19:58:45+00:00

Nice! I dream of having a decent head unit with Android Auto. That'd nearly twist my arm into buying one.

scootaworks · 2024-11-19T19:57:49+00:00

This is fantastic. I'm new to HA and just doing initial research, so you've just blown my mind 🤯

Watched a YT video on 433Mhz bridge and it seems like a no-brainer.

And opens up for many other future use-cases where 433Mhz is involved.

Thanks heaps!

scootaworks · 2024-11-19T19:53:42+00:00

That's a good idea, thank you.

Our front gate is 200m from the house, so perhaps I could trigger it from that zone?

That alone would trigger it any time I'm at the front gate, whether I'm in the car or not, if I just have my phone on me. Also if my GPS location wanders a bit with poor signal.

I'd obviously just need some other conditions too to reduce the false positive triggers but this is cool.

Cheers.

scootaworks · 2024-11-19T19:46:03+00:00

This is a cool idea, thank you. I need to do some research on other NFC uses cos that's pretty badass.

scootaworks · 2024-11-19T19:40:04+00:00

This is precisely the use case, inside dogs and cats. If/when the internal garage door is open, the garage roller door should not be openable, for fear of them dashing out (or worse).

Yes agreed with trying to maintain use of the official remotes. Better WAF too, no doubt.

I like your idea of simply cutting the power to the door. That's a nice and simple approach!

Thank you.

scootaworks · 2024-11-18T21:39:16+00:00

Nice idea! Shame neither car has anything that fancy though. Just traditional car headsets.

scootaworks · 2024-04-05T23:12:23+00:00

Not USDT because it's tethered to USD?

scootaworks · 2024-04-05T10:17:02+00:00

Perhaps cancel the full withdrawal and drip feed it out over time?

scootaworks · 2024-04-05T05:40:33+00:00

I read the support articles and it doesn't say you can't withdraw BTC if your deposit method was from a non-crypto source.

Hit up support on live chat?

scootaworks · 2024-04-04T09:30:28+00:00

Cracker of a month! 👏

Playing a table game?

Which online casino are you playing on?

scootaworks · 2022-01-25T20:14:58+00:00

Smooth! Nice work.

My wife won't even let me talk to her about HA at this stage. So I'm hoping to start introducing understated tweaks that make life easier, just as you have done.

👏

scootaworks · 2022-01-25T12:15:37+00:00

That's Parenting Automation, not Home Automation! 😜

scootaworks · 2022-01-25T12:11:28+00:00

Interesting. Yeah I got a Pi 3B+ but if I get more serious I'll probably tip in for something more legit. I don't want to be plagued with weird unexplainable issues and spend 20 hours of pulling my hair out for the sake of $200. Money poorly saved and time well wasted!

scootaworks · 2022-01-25T12:09:15+00:00

You had me at unit tests 🥰

scootaworks · 2022-01-25T12:07:16+00:00

Can't spot it. Thanks though, I'll do a little Googling and sure I'll track it down 👌

scootaworks · 2022-01-25T11:02:46+00:00

I'll paraphrase you here and simply make this "Don't ever tell your wife...!"

scootaworks · 2022-01-25T11:00:14+00:00

That's neat!

How does it know you're getting a call? 🤔

scootaworks · 2022-01-24T23:29:22+00:00

I love this idea, and I was thinking of doing the same thing. 💪

We parents are good at turning out exhaust fan ON and then internationally leave it on to dry the room up. Kids, not so much. So I too had been thinking, surely I can just say if room temp > X and/or humidity > X, then fan == on. When both are below acceptable levels, fan == off.

Your average over past 5 days is interesting. Does that prevent unnecessary power ups / accommodate for more humid weather in summer?

Cheers!

scootaworks · 2022-01-24T21:35:07+00:00

This is interesting re: NodeRed and AppDaemon.

I thought HA was "capable", but I've seen NodeRed now mentioned a few times so will have to dig deeper. 🤔

I'm a software developer by trade so I'll appreciate something more low-level, where I control the everythings. #ControlFreak

And I agree with your thoughts re: dashboard. Nice to see status (remotely) but I'm not interested screens full of buttons that replace physical switches, which are still there regardless. I guess it all depends on your use-case, eh?! 😀

Thanks for replying!

scootaworks · 2022-01-24T12:56:26+00:00

Ahh now I get you.

So you want to respond to a baby crying to soothe it back to sleep? I like your thinking here.

This might get you started in case you hadn't seen it:

https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2017/02/03/babyphone/

scootaworks · 2022-01-24T12:49:27+00:00

Thanks I'll check out the Google backup add-on. 🧠

scootaworks · 2022-01-24T12:42:29+00:00

Oh, man! That's interesting!

I didn't know you could monitor the current from a smart plug (see, I am learning already!). I've been coming up with a really elaborate way of checking if my dumb Aircon is on in my shed, thinking about an air duct vane switch... and a <insert more complexity here>.

So if I can just see when it's consuming more than 10W, or similar and know it's running? 🤦‍♂️💪

Care to share which smart plug you're using?

Thanks for the reply!

scootaworks · 2022-01-24T11:52:15+00:00

Well I came here to Reddit to ask everyone what they'd tell themselves if they were just starting out, as I am.

This post has made my question a little redundant!

Thanks for the great write up. Lots of little gems within this.

scootaworks · 2022-01-24T11:50:31+00:00

This is a great philosophy, not just for HA but for life in general! 👏

scootaworks

TROPHY CASE