Notification of open garage door

Ira

Active Member
So I've got this bad habit of not remembering if I closed the garage door when I leave my home. The whole process of opening the garage door, walking out of the garage (my vehicle is usually parked outside), pressing the GDO remote to close the door as I approach my car (I don't leave the GDO remote in my car when it is parked outside), then getting in and leaving is so "automatic" that I do it without thinking about it. Then, when I'm a block or two away, I start wondering whether or not I closed the door or if it "reversed" for some reason. That causes me to turn around to check, and 99.99% of the time, the door is closed. I know...pretty weird.

So, I'm thinking there has to be some way to notify the driver when he is leaving that the garage door is still open. Maybe some combination of proximity devices and a garage door sensor that could detect that the vehicle is leaving but the door is still open, so start blinking an LED for a minute in the vehicle or say some kind of prerecorded message or something like that. If I know the door doesn't need to be closed, I can ignore the signal.

The trigger might be a combination of the garage door being opened within the last few minutes, one of my vehicles leaving the property, and the garage door not closed. Under "normal conditions", the door is closed while I am still within 50' of my home (still on my driveway).

Equipment-wise, the starting point is an M1G with a sensor on the garage door. Everything else is open for consideration.

Ira
 
I have similar situation where I start driving away as door is closing but due to my driveway arrangement, I seldom see it actually close shut. I am always concerned that it reverses for some reason and the door stays open. I have been kicking around the idea of using my "garage door secure" as a trigger to control power to a short range FM transmitter with music that you can then pick up on your car radio. In theory, if I tune to that FM channel and can hear music, the door is secure. I have not dug too deep into that approach yet but I think those FM radios have a very short range of around 150 ft (at legal power). I would prefer something longer range
 
I can't help with a solution, but I can say that this is a greater issue than one might realize if they don't wait for the door to close all the way.

As you know, on most garage doors there is an IR beam across the doorway to stop the downward travel if the something should interrupt the beam, such as a child walking under the closing door. The other day, mine was coming down and a large oak leaf blew through the beam, stopping the door from closing.

Had I been driving away, the door would have remained open until I returned.
 
Not the "hands off" solution you are looking for, but...

When you are at a stationary place, you can remote query the M1 to find out if the garage zone is secure and, if not, remote command the garage door to close. I have this control implemented in HTML (so can do this via my Blackberry browser for example), but it can also be done simply with a phone call to the M1.

A webcam that you can steer to see that the garage door opening is clear is helpful for peace of mind.
 
I can't help with a solution, but I can say that this is a greater issue than one might realize if they don't wait for the door to close all the way.

As you know, on most garage doors there is an IR beam across the doorway to stop the downward travel if the something should interrupt the beam, such as a child walking under the closing door. The other day, mine was coming down and a large oak leaf blew through the beam, stopping the door from closing.

Had I been driving away, the door would have remained open until I returned.
Actually, reasons including this one are why I implemented the ultimate garage door monitor! -_- I always know the exact position of my garage door within a couple of inches!
 
I also monitor if the garage door is closed and the alarm system is armed in "away" mode. If not, I will resend the close command after a couple of minutes pass (first chirp the siren in the garage and flash the lights as a warning the garage door is about to close).

If I again don't see a close command, I send a message to my cell phone. I perform all these tasks with my Ocelot (except for the message sending).
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. Sending a text message to my cell phone is reasonable and I would probably implement something like that (and/or a camera) as a fallback, but I am looking for something a little more immediate and "to the point". Under normal circumstances, my garage door should be closed well before I'm 50' feet down the driveway. If it's not, I want to be notified in an immediate and obvious way. At 50', I can still see the door (I'm still in the driveway), and I can still operate the GDO from the remote. Since I have lousy cell phone reception at my home, my phone stays turned off and in my car when I'm home. I do not always turn it on when I get in the car (it's not my primary means of contact).

Although I can see the usefulness in both, I'm not looking for something that will automatically close my door if I forget, or that will allow me to operate the GDO from a cell phone. At least, not as the primary solution for this.

Unless I have a driveway sensor that can detect a vehicle leaving, it seems like I would need two discrete RF devices -- one "short range" (up to 40') and one "long range" (up to 100'). When communication with the short range device becomes unavailable (after having been available), it means the vehicle is leaving. The additional distance on the long range device would allow time for a signal to be sent to it if the garage door is still open.

Maybe it's even easier than that. How about a device in the car that is only powered up when the ignition switch is on. If the garage door is up, an LED flashes and/or a non-irritating (i.e., not too loud) buzzer or voice message device sounds in the vehicle? When the door closes (is secure), the LED/buzzer turn off. Maybe to take it one step further, while in close proximity to the house (within 100'), the status of the garage door (open or closed) is given in the vehicle using LED's (red/green) or voice messages. That way, if you didn't see/hear anything, you would know that the system isn't working rather than assuming the door was closed.

Regarding the garage door safety beam being tripped...that's also one of the reasons I want to do this. In my case, I go down the driveway in reverse so the garage door is still in sight as I'm leaving (if I'm focused on looking). My wife goes forward down the driveway, so once she is out of the garage and on the driveway, it takes a conscious effort to see the garage door (i.e., she has to "look behind"). Also, since she closes the door after the car is out of the garage and is about to go down the driveway, a reversal is less likely to be noticed. For me, since my car is almost always parked outside, I'm usually not in my car yet when I push the button to close the door.

Ira
 
I have similar situation where I start driving away as door is closing but due to my driveway arrangement, I seldom see it actually close shut. I am always concerned that it reverses for some reason and the door stays open. I have been kicking around the idea of using my "garage door secure" as a trigger to control power to a short range FM transmitter with music that you can then pick up on your car radio. In theory, if I tune to that FM channel and can hear music, the door is secure. I have not dug too deep into that approach yet but I think those FM radios have a very short range of around 150 ft (at legal power). I would prefer something longer range

Any idea if the signal from one of these transmitters could be picked up by some other device and used as a trigger for something else like a relay? In my case, I would always forget to tune to the station. Maybe have a separate receiver that is always tuned to it.

Maybe something could be rigged up using walkie-talkies if you could automate the transmitter.

Why do you want something longer range? Can you get more than 150' from your home before the garage door closes?

Ira
 
....Everything else is open for consideration.

I have a garage door reminder. A computer voice (Kate16) tells me if the garage door goes up or down... and reminds me every few minutes when it is up. This can be seen in action on an old YouTube Video of mine (viewed over 11,000 times).

I wanted to set the door to auto-close after a brief delay.... and a short warning as well. The wife said no to the auto-close. I have thought of adding a auto-text message.. to my cell phone.. for weekday mornings (I use a home automation computer). But since I am not working right now... I haven't worried about it.

To accomplish my setup I am just using a security alarm magnetic reed switch, a PowerFlash module, and AHP and BVC software, with a CM15A interface.

The auto close could be easily setup with just 2 pair of magnetic switches, an interface, a powerflash module, and a universal module. A macro could be created that is saved in the interface. Or... a commerically available auto-closer could be purchased: http://www.autocloser.com/auto-closer.asp?Id=6
 
I did not give this a lot of thought, but I remember getting THIS inexpensive product for another purpose, but it can control a 12 volt device via a remote, and that remote has some decent range.

So, what I'm wondering is if it would be possible to hack that remote similar to the way I did in my Garage Door Opener How-To, then have the Elk control that remote (via a relay) so it could send a signal to the car. The main unit could then operate a light or small buzzer inside the car.
 
....Everything else is open for consideration.

I have a garage door reminder. A computer voice (Kate16) tells me if the garage door goes up or down... and reminds me every few minutes when it is up. This can be seen in action on an old YouTube Video of mine (viewed over 11,000 times).

I wanted to set the door to auto-close after a brief delay.... and a short warning as well. The wife said no to the auto-close. I have thought of adding a auto-text message.. to my cell phone.. for weekday mornings (I use a home automation computer). But since I am not working right now... I haven't worried about it.

To accomplish my setup I am just using a security alarm magnetic reed switch, a PowerFlash module, and AHP and BVC software, with a CM15A interface.

The auto close could be easily setup with just 2 pair of magnetic switches, an interface, a powerflash module, and a universal module. A macro could be created that is saved in the interface. Or... a commerically available auto-closer could be purchased: http://www.autocloser.com/auto-closer.asp?Id=6

Good video.

I'm implementing something similar for announcing the status inside my home using the M1G. But what if I'm the last one to leave the home so there's no one around to hear the announcements? That's why I'm looking for something that provides immediate, hands-free (should have added that requirement earlier) notification for the driver of the car (when inside the car) that is leaving.

I've found a number of wireless relays using various technologies with various ranges here. My guess is that the M1G (or CQC via the M1G or a USB or ethernet port) could be used to control a transmitter to trigger the wireless relays. Since there are really three states (door open, door closed, no signal due to malfunction), I might need to use two relays -- one for door open and one for door close, and if neither relay closes (so no indicator), assume malfunction.

My first search attempt for a voice annunciation device didn't turn up anything that looked good, but I may be using the wrong search args. It would be best if it were 12Vdc and have some way of determining which of two messages should be spoken.

Ira
 
Since the issue seems to be "forgetting to close it", I wonder about a simple programmed in timer. If the door is open more than 15 minutes, it gets a close command.

I suppose one would need an override for when they wanted it open, perhaps a "leave open 60 minutes", or something.
 
MY mother-in-law leaves ours up ALL the time, so it didn't take me long to figure out a solution. I have one of the garge door style magnetic contacts on my garage doors. I then created a Timer in my Elk, that starts when the system is armed Away. After 5 minutes, it checks if the garage door contact is secure. If it is not, it sends me an E-mail. At that point, I can call my mother-in-law, or I can dial into my M1 remotely to close it over the phone. I built in the 5-minute wait to give us time to arm the alarm (which is done inside the house), get into the car, and get the door down. So far it has worked flawlessly.

If you want me to post the rules, let me know.
 
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