Instructions | Garage Door Sensor

1
Step 1
Set up the Arduino IDE
1. Install Arduino IDE 1.6.4 or newer.
2. Enable the ESP8266 board:
  
  Add http://arduino.esp8266.com/stable/package_esp8266com_index.json to File, Preferences, Additional Boards Manager URLs.
  
  Open Tools, Board, Boards Manager and wait for it to refresh.
  
  Search for and install esp8266 by ESP8266 Community.
  
  Choose your ESP2866 module from Tools, Board, ESP2866 Modules. Using my Amazon purchase, this is NodeMCU 1.0 (ESP-12E Module).
3. Install libraries:
  
  Open Sketch, Include Library, Manage Libraries...
  
  Search for and install PubSubClient by Nick O'Leary.
  Search for and install Ultrasonic by Erick Simões.
2

Step 2

Wire it up
Connect the sensor to the microcontroller board according to my setup so you don't have to remap pins in code. I used prebuilt F2F wires to make it easier on myself.
3
Step 3
Flash it
1. Connect the microcontroller to your computer using a microUSB cable.
2. Download and open GarageDoorSensor.ino.
3. Replace the values at the top of the file with your own WiFi network info, MQTT server config, etc. For the distance threshold, choose something a little bit (about 5 cm) higher than the distance between your ceiling and the garage door when it is open.
4. If you want an easy way to make sure it works correctly from your computer, set DEBUG to 1 and open the Serial Monitor at 115200 baud. If you're ready to install it in its permanent location, set DEBUG to 0 in order to save some CPU cycles.
5. Be sure you have the correct options specified in the Tools menu:
  
  Board NodeMCU 1.0 (ESP-12E Module) if you're using the same board
  
  CPU Frequency 80 MHz
  
  Flash Size 4M (3M SPIFFS)
  
  Upload Speed 9600
6. Press Upload and wait for it to flash. Don't worry if it's slow, it normally takes quite a bit longer than flashing a regular Arduino.
4
Step 4
Hang it
1. Get 4 screws that will go into the ceiling of the garage.
2. Open the garage door and mark the locations of the four screw holes of the housing so that the sensor is above the door.
3. Close the door and mount the housing.

Discussions

paulfecht wrote 05/08/2022 at 19:53

I'm coming back to this project after a few years. By the way, I set this up and it has worked like a charm for three years. Old reliable. :). I was wondering why you used Telnet in the code. Also, I'm wanting to setup a simple door notification using a NodeMCU and a binary sensor.... thought?

Are you sure? yes | no

Andy Castille wrote 05/08/2022 at 20:09

The telnet server is for remote debugging: https://hackaday.io/project/25090-garage-door-sensor/log/70779-debugging-over-the-network

By binary sensor, do you mean the Home Assistant sensor type? Notifications should be easy to do with a Home Assistant automation that has the door state as a trigger and notification as an action.

Are you sure? yes | no

paulfecht wrote 05/08/2022 at 20:14

Thanks for the link on Telnet. I was following this: https://randomnerdtutorials.com/esp8266-nodemcu-door-status-telegram/?unapproved=740203&moderation-hash=64253203bc8d8625f8e596fcd4777d83#comment-740203

and was wanting to integrate it with Home Assistant so that say when the front door opens the kitchen light turns on. I was thinking of adapting that linked tutorial above using the MQTT binary sensor code and just connecting the magnetic switch and adapting it for a door sensor.

Are you sure? yes | no

paulfecht wrote 11/12/2019 at 06:21

How does one get the sensor to show up in home assistant... I pasted the MQTT code in my configuration.yaml and it shows up as a badge but how do I get the open / closed to display and update in real time. Thanks

Are you sure? yes | no

Meteorinca wrote 01/15/2019 at 22:51

It worked!! Thank you so much for this post! As Matt Motherway said, I had to use 115200 to upload.

Are you sure? yes | no

addledbadger wrote 04/20/2018 at 14:19

Hi, the .ino link seems broken, I'm getting:

```

This XML file does not appear to have any style information associated with it. The document tree is shown below.

<Error>
<Code>NoSuchKey</Code>
<Message>The specified key does not exist.</Message>
<Key>files/250901073450560/GarageDoorSensor.ino</Key>
<RequestId>BEA271ADC9AA88C6</RequestId>
<HostId>
9C2Qh7JKACR6EQHIKmyYAG4mgYm14QJ2JsIF7Wz2oN4xCf5Hdo3LbxjrOrfaNvBwcPq6P3sr2zk=
</HostId>

</Error>

```

Are you sure? yes | no

Matt wrote 04/19/2018 at 20:48

Thanks for the great write-up. I was able to get it working with these parts and settings, except I needed to set the upload speed to 115200. My nodemcu never completed flashing with that sketch, even though it completed flashing with other (smaller) sketches.

Are you sure? yes | no

juan11perez wrote 03/02/2018 at 14:21

Andy, many thanks for sharing this. It works and you've made it so simple. I've looked at similar projects and somehow they seem overcomplicated.

Are you sure? yes | no

Board	NodeMCU 1.0 (ESP-12E Module) if you're using the same board
CPU Frequency	80 MHz
Flash Size	4M (3M SPIFFS)
Upload Speed	9600

Garage Door Sensor

Set up the Arduino IDE

Wire it up

Flash it

Hang it

Discussions

Become a Hackaday.io Member