Mower Garage Questions

[skyynet]

After having installed my OpenSprinkler and being very happy with it my next project is a garage for my Robomow.
I already ordered an electrified roller shutter in mini size (80x50cm). The shutter can be opened and closed by a button press so it’s possible to do this with OpenGarage.

The usual workflow would be to open the garage a short time before the mower will leave and close it after it came home. The later one should be possible by sensing it with the ultrasonic sensor. But how do I open the shutter automatically? I couldn’t find a timer in OpenGarage to open/close it at given times.

Is there a way to open/close it at specific times? I would really like to do it locally and not rely on WiFi & IFTTT when I go on vacation for a few weeks.
If it’s not integrated, is it in the todo list for the next firmware updates?

[skyynet]

Ok, as I asked Ray by email I would like to give the answers here for reference:

My requirements are:

1. Open/Close shutter at given times<br />
   OpenGarage doesn’t do time-based action yet (the only automation it does is to trigger closing the door if it’s left open for more than xxx minutes). It’s certainly possible to modify the firmware to do time-based action, but it’s not something that most users need.
2. Sense mower in garage and close door (by using the ultrasonic sensor)<br />
   Yes, this can be done using the built-in ultrasonic sensor on OpenGarage
3. Sense mower wanna leave (by ultrasonic sensor)<br />
   no answer, yet
4. Network interface (status/open/close)<br />
   works of course

I also checked OpenSprinkler Bee 2.0 but it lacks a port which could be used to sense incoming/leaving mower with a simple snap-action switch.

OpenSprinkler could possibly used but is a little overkill and expensive for the task.

So if someone with the programming skills would add this to OpenGarage it would extend the usage to folks with robot mowers and mower garages with automated shutters.
And make me happy, of course 🙂

[jamessmith12jh]

You can get customized roller shutters installed from ADV Contractors. We provide shutters that works exactly as per your requirement. To solve your issue of opening roller shutter at a particular time, we will install automatic operative roller shutter which you can operate from a long distance also.

[skyynet]

Thanks. I fulfilled my requirements mostly with Sonoff Dual which costs around $10.
Open & close schedules are working. Network also. With the Sonoff Dual R2 and ESPurna Firmware one could add two more sensors. I will have to use that in the future to realize incoming and outgoing mower automatically.

My current setup – for the folks interested – may be seen here: https://skyynet.de/mowgli

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