Garage Door Controller

Have you ever been locked out the house? Do you wish to control your garage door with your phone? You came to the right place. MEGR3171.

IntermediateShowcase (no instructions)8 hours1,088

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Particle Photon

Relay (generic)

magnetic sensor

Jumper wires (generic)

Breadboard (generic)

Velcro

Software apps and online services

IFTTT Maker service

ThingSpeak API

Story

Do you live with multiple people at home? Have you ever came home but the garage controller is in your roommate's car? now you can control your garage with your phone and this way you will never have to worry about sitting in your car waiting anymore. Best part is, you will no longer need to be within distance for your antenna to pick up the signal, you can command an "open" and "close" signal to y your garage while you are thousands of miles away. You can also make sure that the garage is closed in case you are having any doubts. As a college student, coming back in the late evening is a common thing. Now, you do not have to worry about bumping into your tools or boxes. A lamp will trigger on as you make your way from your car, and after a specific amount of time, the lamp will turn off.

Using a magnetic sensor, the photon is coded to read a specific value that is determined by trial and error due to sensor placement. The photon then receives the signal and determines the distance and whether the garage is opened or closed. If the garage is open, and another open command is given, the photon with an error displayed as "-1" implying that the garage is already open. The same concept is also for the closed position. Using the IFTTT program, text messages to the phone are also sent to check on the status of the garage. This allows to track the garage and relief any doubts that you left the garage open while you're on spring break.

Then, once the garage is open, after 5 seconds, a lamp will turn on to light up your way inside the house. The lamp is also connected with another photon that communicates with the garage door photon. This was made possible using the "particle.subscribe" function in the code for the light. Essentially, the photon subscribes to the status of the garage, and then decides to turn on the light. After 20 seconds, assuming that you have made your way in, the light will auto shut down. This will save the user efforts in addition to electricity savings of keeping the light on when not needed.

Code

// This part of the code defines the pins that are being used. D0 is for the garage output and A0 is for the garage analog pin which will be serving as out input. The initial value will be set at 10. This is dependant on the sensor. 

int Door = D0;
int aPin = A1; 
int Sensor = 10;

// Below is setting up which pin is what and what the functions are. In this case the door movement will serve as our ultimate output and the analong pin as our input where it gets the directions to trigger the relay. 
void setup(){
  Serial.begin( 10400 );
  pinMode(Door, OUTPUT);     
  pinMode(aPin, INPUT);

// This is where the whole function is connected to an If this then that program or IFTTT. This will send an email to let know of the status of the garage whether is open or closed based on the functions below. 

Particle.function("IbrahimGarage",WelcomeHome);
}

// This loop is to control the open and close based on the sensor values. 

void loop(){}
 

 int WelcomeHome(String command){
  Sensor = analogRead(aPin);

  if (command=="on" && Sensor<6000) {
         
        digitalWrite(Door,HIGH);
        delay(100);
        digitalWrite(Door,LOW);
        Particle.publish("The_Garage_is_Now_Open","OPENED");
        return 1;
  }
   
    else if  (command=="off" && Sensor>6000) {

        digitalWrite(Door,HIGH);
        delay(100);
        digitalWrite(Door,LOW);
        Particle.publish("The_Garage_is_Now_Closed","CLOSED");
        return 0;
  }
  
  else {
      return -1;
  }
  }

Credits

Ibrahim Fadhel

1 project • 0 followers

Nazar Alsadeq

1 project • 0 followers

Garage Door Controller