Using Twine to monitor garage door and send reminder notifications

Answers

• 10 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
• Mark Engelhardt

  November 2012 Vote Up0Vote Down

  Hello, I plan to use my twine as described in this article... which is great, but my garage door gets stuck when it its almost all the way down... So the feature I need is to have twine detect a small change in the orientation.. I need a rule that says if the the angle of the twine on one axis is between 85 and 0 the door is open (send a message every 1/2 hour) if the angle is 86-90, then the door is closed (send nothing)
• John LaRoux

  November 2012 Vote Up0Vote Down

  All you need is a mag switch and your done.
• Robert Savage

  November 2012 edited November 2012 Vote Up0Vote Down

  Or fix the door to close properly. :-)
  Sorry ... I could not resist!
  
  I think that will take some scripting for the continuous reminders. Maybe this article will give you some pointers:
  http://blog.webscript.io/remembering-to-close-my-garage-door-with-twine-and-webscript.html
  
• Mark Engelhardt

  November 2012 Vote Up0Vote Down

  >Or fix the door to close properly. :-) --- Ha Ha... My door has many issues... There is no room to fix it right. The continuous reminder is not that important for this application... But I think a lot of people will want that for many other applications.
• Robert Savage

  November 2012 Vote Up0Vote Down

  I definitely like the idea of being able to create rules based on a range of more granular angles of orientation!
  
  However, if you are wanting to get something working for your needs immediately then I agree with John and would opt for the breakout board accessory and then connect a magnetic door sensor (like those used in security alarms -- cheap and highly available).
  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0050N7SM0/savagehomeaut-20
  
  Or here is a purpose built professional door sensor for garage doors:
  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0058M0UZA/savagehomeaut-20
  or
  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000Q64NS8/savagehomeaut-20
  these may provide more forgiveness (higher tolerances) for detecting closure.
  
  Basically the sensor would only be activated when the door is completely closed. Thus if the door got stuck, the sensor would never complete (or open -- depending on NO/NC) the circuit. This could provide a more positive confirmation of door closure.
  
• Mark Engelhardt

  November 2012 Vote Up0Vote Down

  Good point. I hope we can get the software changed... So I don't have to add a sensor.
  
• Seth Lieberman

  November 2012 Vote Up0Vote Down

  Robert- This is a good use of twine. I had intended to use the magnetic switch to accomplish this, but this is far more elegant. However, what I really want to do is only trigger this alert after say 9pm when the kids are all asleep and I left the garage open. I didn't see anyway for me add a time based rule, do you know of one?
• Robert Savage

  November 2012 edited November 2012 Vote Up0Vote Down

  @Seth,
  
  At this time I do not know of one other than the possibility of using an external scripting solution (or custom software programming) such as: http://blog.webscript.io/remembering-to-close-my-garage-door-with-twine-and-webscript.html where you could write your own custom logic. You should propose that a time based condition be added to the rules as a feature request! I think its a good general purpose feature that could be useful for many different applications.
  
  As far as elegant .. yes it is simply elegant, but perhaps if you want a permanent no-hassle solution, the magnetic switch would be better. I say this because you could power the Twine externally (if not mounted to the moving garage door.) and not have to worry about battery replacements. Just a thought :-)
  
  If you are interested in using a magnetic door sensor, I really think this type (below) is the best for a garage door application. They have a greater tolerance (sensor range) and are designed for permanent mounting.
  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0058M0UZA/savagehomeaut-20
  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000Q64NS8/savagehomeaut-20
  One of these would just connect to the Twine Breakout Board.
• Robert Savage

  December 2012 Vote Up0Vote Down

  I have published a new article/project using Twine along with external overhead door sensors to monitor the state of multiple garage doors and it has the additional benefit of being able to be locally powered and not rely solely on batteries.
  
  NEW PROJECT/ARTICLE:
  http://www.savagehomeautomation.com/projects/twine-garage-door-monitor-revisit.html