Smart Garage Door Opener (1)

There are three versions of the Smart Garage Door project:

This version uses a 12v universal remote to open and close a garage door
The other replace a "garage doorbell button" (recommended)
My original Instructable, which does not use a remote but hacks into the doorbell wires

In late 2014, I built a smart garage door opener. My original instructable used a Raspberry Pi 2 and is described here.

Recently, I was able to buy a MyQ for less than $30. So, I switched. Well, that was a mistake.

I've learned a lot since 2014 about building Raspberry Pi Projects, and many things have changed. So, I decided to redo this project from scratch.

Overview:

In this project, a headless Raspberry Pi Zero WH (RPi0) is connected to:

A web site and web server is used to to open, close and monitor a garage door.

The door can be controlled and monitored from a smart phone or an Amazon Echo

A gpio pin from the RPi0 controls a relay, which momentarily closes a switch on the remote control.

A sensor is used to determine if the garage door is opened or closed.

Features:

Open and close an overhead garage door using the doorbell and the garage door's standard remote
Control the garage door from a SmartPhone (e.g., Android or iPhone)
Control the garage door through an Amazon Echo
Monitor and record the state of the garage door
Access monitoring data over the internet or through Echo
Work with any garage door opener by using a universal remote
Keep the garage door secure (e.g., on power loss, the door should not open, no one else on the web can open the door)
Do not allow anyone else on the net to open the door (two way self-signed SSL certificate)
Set a schedule for when the garage door should be opened or closed (time of day, vacation, no one home)
Send a text message to open or more smart phones if the door is open when it should be closed
Create command-line scripts to open, close and return the status of the garage door

Parts (prices of parts and tools are in USD):

Raspberry Pi Zero WH ($5 without headers. I am using with headers. Without headers would require a bit more soldering)
- - MicroCenter $14.99
  - AdaFruit $14.00
Universal Garage Door Remote, Cedar Park Overhead Garage Doors, $35
- - Any universal remote should work
2 right-angle header pins, Amazon, $8.99
SanDisk Ultra 16 GB microSDHC Class 10 with Adapter, Amazon $6.91
- - Any 16GB, Class 10 microSD Card will work
SunFounder 2 Channel 5V Relay Shield Module for Arduino UNO 2560 1280 ARM PIC AVR STM32 Raspberry Pi - $6.79
- - Only 1 channel is required
3x Female-Female Jumper Wires. Bought at Fry’s for $4.95.
1-Gang 18 cu. in. Old Work Heavy Wall Switch and Outlet Box, $3.12
Ultra Pro Single Brush White Wall Plate, Home Depot, $7.88
SECO-LARM SM 226L, Garage Door Sensor, price varies widely, $9.99 on Amazon
50ft of Solid thermostat wire, Home Depot or Lowe's, ~$20
Raspberry Pi Fan 5v 1.2Amp (must be 1.2Amps or lower)
10000mAh Portable Power Bank with Dual USB Ports 5.1V Output and Input from Amazon for $14.99
Short USB to USB-C adapter cable, $5
Power Adapter USB 5.1V output, $6

Tools and Services:

Notes:

Text enclosed in spades, like this ♣replace-this♣ should be replaced with an actual value
I’ve attempted to credit every source used in the references
$ indicates a command executed in a terminal window on the MacBook and usually is being executed on a Raspberry Pi
Links are to reusable steps that need to be completed

Step 1. Setup Raspberry Pi Zero running Raspberry Pi OS

Setup the RPi0 as headless

Don't put the Raspberry Pi in a case.

RPI.GPIO comes pre-installed with Raspberry Pi OS

Go to the next part (Part 2) of the smart garage door opener project

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