Smart Overhead Door Opener (1)

DRAFT - NOT FINISHED YET - almost done

Step 1.1. Overview:

My focus in the redesign was on:

• • Better case

  • Easier install

    • • minimize cable runs and soldering

      • code is downloadable with minimal edits

  • Minimize costs and steps

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

• a 3V garage door remote control

• a garage door sensor

• a Raspberry Pi (RPi) camera with an RPi Zero cable

• a low-profile, blue push button

All the components are mounted inside an "old work" standard junction box with a black metal, blank wall plate. The end device replaces the garage door opener's "doorbell button".

The RPi0 connects to the internet via low speed Wi-Fi (802.11n)

Step 1.2. Features:

• The door can be opened, closed and monitored using:

  • • Any computer that can access a website

    • Any smartphone

    • Amazon Echo

    • Blue pushbutton

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

• A [Optional] Security camera takes photos when motion is detected. Videos and streaming can be enabled.

• Wall mounted unit replaces the garage opener's doorbell

• Works with any garage door opener

• Keeps the garage door secure (e.g., on power loss, the door does 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 one or more smart phones if the door is open when it should be closed

• Command-line scripts to open, close and return the status of the garage door

Step 1.3. Gather 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

• 3V Key Fob Style Garage Door Remote that is compatible with your Garage Door Opener, 2 pack on Amazon for ~$19

• SanDisk Ultra 16 GB microSDHC Class 10 with Adapter, Amazon $6.91

  • • Any size (16-64) GB, Class 10 microSD Card will work

• Female to Female (or Female to Male) Jumper Wires. Bought a package of wires at Fry’s for $4.95 only need female end

• Case:

  • • 1-Gang 18 cu. in. Old Work Heavy Wall Switch and Outlet Box, The Home Depot, $3.12

    • Black Metal Blank Wall Plate, The Home Depot, ~$2

    • 9/30 gauge plexiglas from The Home Depot, 2x2 foot sheet ~20

    • Low profile (but not flat) heat sink for RPi0. I bought these in bulk <$1/heat sink

• Sensor

  • • SECO-LARM SM 226L, Garage Door Sensor, price varies widely, $9.99 on Amazon

    • Copapa Heat Shirnk Tube

      • • I bought a case in various sizes: For my projects, I only need 3mm and 1.5mm

        • Heat shrink tubes (1) 1.5mm by 38mm

    • 50ft of Solid thermostat wire, Home Depot or Lowe's, ~$20: measure your distance

    • Bojack Dupont Connector Kit (any brand)

      • • (2) 1x1 plastic header

        • (2) female crimp pins

• Power Supply

  • • 50ft of Solid thermostat wire, Home Depot or Lowe's, ~$20: measure your distance (same spool of wire as above)

    • 1.5 foot USB to USB-C adapter cable, $5

    • Copapa (any brand) Heat Shrink Tubes

      • • Heat shrink tubes (2) 1.5mm by 38mm

        • Heat shrink tube (1) 3mm by 38mm

    • Power Adapter USB 5.2V output, $6

    • Heat shrink tubes

• M2.5 screws, nuts and hex standoffs (6x6). I bought a case of these. So, mush less than $1 for this project

Step 1.4. Get Tools and Services:

• Soldering Iron Station, Deoxit Tip Tinner and Cleaner, and Solder

• Needle nose pliers. Wire Stripper

• Flat Head and Phillips Head Screwdrivers

• Box Cutter, X-acto knife

• Drill with metal drill bits (Special Spade bit - 3/8 inch)

• Breadboard and jumper wires

• MacBook (a PC can be used)

• AT&T GigaPower (any internet service provider can be used)

• gmail account

• Dynamic DNS $40 per year for 30 names (dyn.com)

• Fish Tape

• Tape Measure

• Level

Step 1.5. 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 (these are part of the project)

Step 1.6. Locate garage opener doorbell button and cut a hole in the drywall

If you don't know what you are doing, then stop. Wires for switches and outlets can run near the doorbell, and by cutting through or into a wire you could kill yourself or burn down your house.

This device replaces the doorbell garage door opener. So, the hole for the "old work" junction box should include where ever the garage doorbell is located.

Cut a hole in the wall large enough to fit an "old work" junction box. It is better to cut hole too small than too large. Old work junction boxes have cleats that screw into place to hold the junction box. New work junction boxes have nails for the studs.

Cut the doorbell wire so no exposed wire is showing, and then cap the doorbell wires with very small electrical wing nuts. These should be in the junction when all the work is complete (i.e., do not bend them back up into the wall cavity.

Slide the old work junction box in the hole. Adjust the opening until the junction box fits snugly.

Mark the junction box's top and bottom.

Pop out both ears on the top back of the junction box. So, the power and sensor wires can get into the junction box come through on the right, and the doorbell wires come through on the right.

Step 1.8. Install Garage Door Sensor (SECO-LARM)

The magnet is attached to the left-hand, top indoor side of the garage door (yellow box on bottom right of picture)

The sensor is attached to the garage wall (bottom left and middle above) .

I ran solid thermostat wire from the sensor back to the raspberry pi. This required a hole from the garage into the attic and from the attic into the wall containing the garage door opener (doorbell switch).

The SECO-LARM wires are too short to run all the way back to the Raspberry Pi. So, I inserted a blue junction box between the SECO-LARM sensor and the solid wires running back to the Raspberry Pi.

In my house, there is an 18 inch gap between the ceiling of the first floor and the bottom of the second floor. I assume this is where the heating and cooling ducts run. I needed a drill bit extension long enough to go through the second floor and through the top 2x4 (top plate) containing the doorbell.

The most important part is when drilling from the attic into the area where the wires will run to the garage door opener is to NOT drill through the electricity. Fixing this was not fun. Seeing the sparks and having the lights go out was pretty thrilling!

The sensor requires two solid thermostat wires or invisible dog fence wire.

Step 1.9. Run sensor wire from attic to junction box opening

I have a metal fish tape. After prolonged storage it acquires a curve, making it difficult to feed the wire straight down. So, the trick is to unwind the length needed and gently bend it back every six inches or so until the fish tape is straight.

There should be insulation and other wires, perhaps even firebreaks, where the fish tape is going through the wall. nothing should catch or hold the fish tape.

Bend a small amount of sensor wire into the fish tape's lead, push the wire into the lead, cut any pokey ends, and use a small bit of Scotch tape to attach the wire to the fish tape. Being sure to feed the fish tape straight in the direction of the junction box, slide it gently through until you can pull the fish tape and sensor wire through the junction box hole.

Step 1.11. Create very long USB to micro-USB power cable

I was planning to use voltage and ground from the Garage Door Opener. However, not all models provide output voltage and ground. And the output voltage may be higher than the 5V required by the RPi0. So, I decided it would be more universal to run USB to USB-C cable from an outlet to the junction box.

In this case I took 1.5 foot USB/USB-C cable, and spliced in thermostat wire to make a 25+ power cable. The data lines do not work.

Cut the USB to USB-C wire so the USB side is long enough to go from outlet to opening where other garage door opener wires run and up into the ceiling

The shorter end is the USB-C and will go in the junction box

Run the thermostat wire leaving plenty running out the junction box and near the outlet

The USB side of the wire is by the outlet, and the USB-C side is by the junction box

Slide a 3mm heat shrink wrap over both ends of the thermostat wire. This will bind the USB wire to thermostat wire

Strip 1 inch from each end of USB and USB-C wires

Remove shielding and unused wires from USB

There is not standard color coding for wires inside a USB

In my USB wire, Red = Vcc and Black = Ground (this is common), but check with voltmeter

Strip 1/4 inch from each of the red and black wires, snip off the other two USB data wires

Remove 1 inch of outer sheathing from thermostat wire

My thermostat wire has Red and White wires inside

I will use Red = Vcc, and White = Ground

Strip 1/4 inch from each of the red and white wires

Cut four 3/8 small heat shrink wraps

Slide heat shrink wraps onto each red and white wires

Solder wires together. Solder Red to Red (USB), and White to Black (USB)

Since the wire are hanging from the wall or ceiling, I used two spring wood clamps, a paint stirrer and some blue tack to hold the wires in place while soldering

Turn off soldering iron

Slide the small heat shrinks in place

Use the barrel or side of soldering iron to shrink the heat wraps

If the heat shrinks don’t work use electrical tape to separate Vcc and Ground to prevent shorts

The smart way to connect wires ground and Vcc close together is to offset them so the bare metal does not overlap, and then even if the heat shrink or electrical moves, there is no chance of a short

Slide the larger heat shrink over the USB and thermostat wires and shrink

The spliced section of wire is much less structurally sound than the other parts of the wire. So, I bend the thermostat wire and then bind the soldered section to the thermostat tape using electrical wire

Step 1.12. Junction Box and Plexiglas [optional]

Since the case is so cheap, I thought i would use one as a throwaway. I wanted to get all of the components to fit, and be able to see they were fitting.

I cut the plexiglas to the inside measurements and then trimmed it down to accommodate the slope, and to allow for the low profile button to fit.

The old work junction box has two slots, and I thought this would be a cool way to mount the Raspberry Pi 0 one one piece of plexiglas and the Remote on another. And then I could slide the plexiglas in and out.

After trying with two pieces, I realized it is much easier to use one piece of plexiglas mounting the Remote and RPi0 at right angles to each other. The mounting holes for each device should not overlap.

Use the left most slot. In the image above "shows slots with plexiglas". The plexiglas is in the right slot. But mounting it this way doesn't leave enough room for the female headers on the GPIO pins. So, put the one sheet in the left most slot.

The camera's ribbon cable wraps over the top of the plexiglas to the Remote's side. I damaged the first ribbon cable when I slid the board all the way in.

Cut down the upper slots so they are even with the punch outs. I used a needle nose pliers to twist off the slot's wings, and then a putty knife and a rubber mallet to get it smooth

Step 1.13. Cut plexiglas to rough size

Cut two pieces of plexiglass (the 2nd one is in case you make a mistake)

• 9/30 x 2-1/2 x 2-13/16 inches

The box slopes from the front opening to the back

The depth is 3.5 inches, but cut shorter to allow for the low profile push button

• Switch box = 4.3 x 2.3 inches

• faceplate = 4.5 x 3 inches (metal face plat is larger, but only box size matters

Step 1.14. Drill holes in wall plate

Drill holes in wall plate for camera and pushbutton

• On the back side of the wall plate, mark the center line and determine location for push button and camera

• Use a countersink or nail to hammer an indent for the drill to start (The push button requires a big hole. I needed a 3/8 inch metal drill bit for the push button)

• Attach push button to faceplate. Hand tighten in place with hex nut on backside of wall plate

• Remove the four screws from the push button, which makes the low profile button just a bit shorter

Step 1.15. Trim plexiglas to fit

I marked the top, bottom and back of the plexiglass piece.

Trim down the plexiglas until the pushbutton and the plexiglas fit in the case

• With the plexiglas sheet slid into the junction box, see if the wall plate with the push button is flush with the wall

• If the wall plate is not flush, then trim down the plexiglas until the wall plate sits flush with the wall

Step 1.16. Drill holes in plexiglas

Mark and drill holes for RPi0

• RPi0 mounting must leave room on top and bottom for camera and for microSD Card

  • Note: the camera cable is delicate, but can take a beating in terms of bends (I have one cable that is bent at a 90 degree angle, and it still works)

• The Raspberry Pi power supply comes in through the back of the case. So, the RPi0 should have the pins facing towards the wall plate and the USB-C power connector pointing towards the back of the junction box

• The RPi0 is mounted vertically on the right piece of plexiglass

• The RPi0 should as close to the front of the plexiglas as possible. My power supply cable is not that flexible

Mark and drill holes for Remote

• • • Use the holes on the remote as a guide to drill holes in the plexiglas

    • I use two spring clamps to hold the remote PCB to the plexiglas.

    • The remote is mounted horizontally and in the middle of the plexiglas to avoid the wings on the junction box

    • One Remote hole will be covered by the RPi0. So, the Remote must be mounted first