I did some searching around and I found a similar project that uses this approach. I think this will be okay. I have implemented a SmartApp already for this approach if you can get the firmware to call the URL.
Here is the code for the SmartApp.
https://github.com/codahq/opengarage.io-handler/blob/master/OpenGarage.io-smartapp.groovy
In postman (or something similar) I was able to hit the URL that this SmartApp provided and SmartThings was responding appropriately and refreshing data from the device. @lawrence_jeff Can you make a firmware change then? Please let me know if you have any questions.
Here is the URL the OG would need to GET:
https://${base_api_url}/api/smartapps/installations/${app_instance_id}/do_update?access_code=${access_token}
So, in the UI of the OG they would need to provide the base api URL, the app instance ID and the access token or alternatively just this entire URL with their info already in place.