Adding Gate to HA

TedLasso said:
Can you share the HA code for this? Send an alarm if HA did not trigger a switch. I hope I can use it so that I also get notified if paradox alarm is triggered while armed - that is should send me a notification via Hass notifications . TIA

For the OP, I have a long distance (don't know correct term) magnetic reed switch connected to GPIO14 of the Sonoff SV that tells me open close status of gate. The distance is about 5-8cm

Considering my gate is wierdly built , finding a good spot was hard and took some attempts but the sensor sits inside the centurion motor housing and the other magnetic bit was glued onto gate. Works 100% reliably. Will take a pic tomorrow. You will laugh
Click to expand...

wide gap is the correct term :p
 
Tinuva said:
I sent a notification if the gate was left open for 10 minutes instead. Mostly avoid false positives.

If I wanted your idea, I would send a notification immediately if the alarm is armed and the gate is opened. Could possibly still do this, but by this time the front beam will trigger anyway. Each time the gate open or closes, the miniscule movement against the guides trigger the front beam. So basically have to wait for gate to be closed before arming alarm. I am happy with that actually.
Click to expand...
I have mines using the reed switch to do similar - if gate is open for 3 mins, send a notification to mobile devices, announce it on Sonos speakers and then close gate.

Just bumped it up to 5 mins as we have had times where were people leaving and I opened gate and then we end up chatting a bit more and they start reversing and then gate starts autoclosing.


I finally also got the GPS stuff working so alarm arms itself (bypasses one problematic zone) and when wife, I or domestic leave, gardener leave and no one else is detected. And now auto disarming if I get home (gonna see if I can add a new condition where my phone should be connected to one of the cars Bluetooth ).

Perhaps with condition that if Bluetooth connection to car is detected open gate too so I can drive in.

Only started solving all my alarm related automations in the past week. Your idea is also cool. If gate opens and alarm is armed - so something more actionable.

Edit:- my domestic and Gardener are not HA users, but I gave them access to free unlimited WiFi - so I use the device tracker from the Ubiquiti to test their availability. Works really well.
 
gbyleveldt said:
Heh, I should have added that I haven’t done it yet. The idea came to me when I typed the post. Thinking afterwards, you may have an issue when you use the remote to open the gate and not the app. This will be a false alarm as HA has no idea you used the remote to legitimately open the gate.
Click to expand...
It's the same thought I had (about remote) , hence my question since you are a magician and thought you found some cool way :)

Thinking perhaps a way around this , is to rely completely on HA, so have like Shelley buttons that trigger open/close for the physical world , and keep the rf433 stuff for emergencies.

To my point above , when I update the disarm alarm routine next time to include the Bluetooth check, it may mean my wife and never need to open the gate ourselves. I have a shortcut on my home screen in any case. Need to figure out how to do this for iOSIMG_20210831_111926.jpg
 
TedLasso said:
It's the same thought I had (about remote) , hence my question since you are a magician and thought you found some cool way :)
Click to expand...

Ha, the only magical thing I can manage is to p1ss off my happy-go-lucky missus in 3 seconds flat.

I did give this some more thought though. What I'm thinking is using another input on a Sonoff SV and wire the output of the radio receiver to the SV and let the SV be the primary controller for the gate. That way, HA will know if the remote was used to open the gate. With a Tasmota rule you can bind that contact to the relay, so it'll still work self contained even if HA isn't running. Also, sometimes the phone app takes a while to pick up the local wifi, so it's a pain to wait in front of the gate for the HA app to come online and open the gate. Hence I like using the normal remote. Anyway, you'll have to use a Sonoff SV though as it has more than one input (you want to monitor the gate position and receive a signal from the radio remote receiver).

In my case, I don't use the internal remote receiver of the gate motor. I use an external one, because the remote controls two gate motors, a garage door and the alarm. If you use the internal remote receiver of the gate motor, this might be an issue unless you use the route I did.
 
TedLasso said:
I have mines using the reed switch to do similar - if gate is open for 3 mins, send a notification to mobile devices, announce it on Sonos speakers and then close gate.

Just bumped it up to 5 mins as we have had times where were people leaving and I opened gate and then we end up chatting a bit more and they start reversing and then gate starts autoclosing.


I finally also got the GPS stuff working so alarm arms itself (bypasses one problematic zone) and when wife, I or domestic leave, gardener leave and no one else is detected. And now auto disarming if I get home (gonna see if I can add a new condition where my phone should be connected to one of the cars Bluetooth ).

Perhaps with condition that if Bluetooth connection to car is detected open gate too so I can drive in.

Only started solving all my alarm related automations in the past week. Your idea is also cool. If gate opens and alarm is armed - so something more actionable.

Edit:- my domestic and Gardener are not HA users, but I gave them access to free unlimited WiFi - so I use the device tracker from the Ubiquiti to test their availability. Works really well.
Click to expand...

Please come back to us when you have hit a car
 
Speedster said:
Auto closing is only safe if there is an eye sensor thing
Click to expand...
Yeah, but what I don't like about those is that they can be tampered with and thus preventing the gate from closing even if you want to force it to, God forbid. That, and people like stealing them off the wall as they are inevitably mounted outside where vandals can get to them.
 
Steamy Tom said:
Please come back to us when you have hit a car
Click to expand...
:D Admittedly, it's a new thing for my HA to close the gate. I guess I fell in love with using TTS on my SONOS speakers.

But it depends on use case. Ours is a standalone house with very few guests visiting.

In reality, if it's me or my wife, we drive/in out and close gate. When the visitors are there, we are normally outside, and I open/close gate from my phone. It was only after I enabled this new functionality , that I realised, that sometimes we open the gate and then there is a still a chat going on, which can possibly cause a problem. Hence moving to 5 mins should be enough and while I know I am conscious about it , my wife may not be.

But I will adapt it to send a notification 15 seconds before it actually starts closing (notification to phones and I will also put sonos speakers closest to entrance at 100% for the TTS message too. I use a similar notification thing when Domestic leaves. She tells Alexa a specific command (routine) which then opens/closes the garage door/gate to allow her to leave and tells her how much time she has :D (as then soon as her phone drops off the wifi - alarm is armed)
gbyleveldt said:
Yeah, auto closing gates are a bad idea. Ideally you want a notification that the gate has been open for 5 minutes and then manually close it.
Click to expand...

For us, we don't have those IR sensors connect to the gate. Our security guy told us to remove them and his logic is perfect. But we have had instances over the last few years that the gate looks like it closes and then opens again, etc and we don't know. Once it was open for an 70 minutes before neighborhood security saw it and then closed it with their code (before I installed the open/closed sensor). When I looked at the CCTV , the gate was closed, we drove away and few seconds later it reopened. I guess I must have pressed the button on the remote again. So sometimes it could have an advantage too.
 
HunterNW said:
How will this work then ?
Scenario: I'm at work and want to open the gate for the builder/mailman etc.
Click to expand...
You can install a sonoff gate switch. That can control the gate like a simple single pole switch ie: open/close. You need to monitor its state though which it won't tell you so you could add a sonoff alarm contact that will tell you if gate is open or closed. Alternatively, have a camera somewhere that shows you the gated area and open/close with the main switch while viewing.

Sonoff gate switch

www.robofactory.co.za

Sonoff Gate / Garage Wifi Smart Switch

With this device you can make your electronic gate or garage door smart. When this device is installed, you can open or close your gate/door with either the eWelink app, any voice assistant or home automation hub.
www.robofactory.co.za www.robofactory.co.za

Easy installation

RoboFactory SA

RoboFactory SA - We make Home Automation simple and affordable. We stock the latest Sonoff and Arduino products
blog.robofactory.co.za blog.robofactory.co.za
 
gbyleveldt said:
Ha, the only magical thing I can manage is to p1ss off my happy-go-lucky missus in 3 seconds flat.

I did give this some more thought though. What I'm thinking is using another input on a Sonoff SV and wire the output of the radio receiver to the SV and let the SV be the primary controller for the gate. That way, HA will know if the remote was used to open the gate. With a Tasmota rule you can bind that contact to the relay, so it'll still work self contained even if HA isn't running. Also, sometimes the phone app takes a while to pick up the local wifi, so it's a pain to wait in front of the gate for the HA app to come online and open the gate. Hence I like using the normal remote. Anyway, you'll have to use a Sonoff SV though as it has more than one input (you want to monitor the gate position and receive a signal from the radio remote receiver).

In my case, I don't use the internal remote receiver of the gate motor. I use an external one, because the remote controls two gate motors, a garage door and the alarm. If you use the internal remote receiver of the gate motor, this might be an issue unless you use the route I did.
Click to expand...
I am also using a Sherlo receiver for the gate ... interesting idea. Worth a shot. Maybe this weekend's project

Can't believe nobody has told me off, for auto-opening the gate when hass detects wife and I entered home zone while connected to bluetooth (which seems like a bad idea - but would be so cool :D)
 
Kosmik said:
You can install a sonoff gate switch. That can control the gate like a simple single pole switch ie: open/close. You need to monitor its state though which it won't tell you so you could add a sonoff alarm contact that will tell you if gate is open or closed. Alternatively, have a camera somewhere that shows you the gated area and open/close with the main switch while viewing.

Sonoff gate switch

www.robofactory.co.za

Sonoff Gate / Garage Wifi Smart Switch

With this device you can make your electronic gate or garage door smart. When this device is installed, you can open or close your gate/door with either the eWelink app, any voice assistant or home automation hub.
www.robofactory.co.za www.robofactory.co.za

Easy installation

RoboFactory SA

RoboFactory SA - We make Home Automation simple and affordable. We stock the latest Sonoff and Arduino products
blog.robofactory.co.za blog.robofactory.co.za
Click to expand...
Exactly like this. That switch is less than R200, and can be set to "inching" mode i.e. a short duration "pulse". This would Open/Close the gate, and can be simply installed in parallel with your current receiver, whether its the built in one or a separate one. And as stated, only challenge is the state of the gate, which @Kosmik gave 2 suggestions for - I would lean towards the Sonoff door contact, then its in 1 ecosystem
 
The_MAC said:
Exactly like this. That switch is less than R200, and can be set to "inching" mode i.e. a short duration "pulse". This would Open/Close the gate, and can be simply installed in parallel with your current receiver, whether its the built in one or a separate one. And as stated, only challenge is the state of the gate, which @Kosmik gave 2 suggestions for - I would lean towards the Sonoff door contact, then its in 1 ecosystem
Click to expand...
I installed the gate swtich a while back, works like a bomb, easy to do and hassle free. Centurion D5 Evo ( non smart ).

Didn't think about the alarm one until someone asked a while back, might buy one and try it out. Its at the extreme range of my wifi though.
 
TedLasso said:
I am also using a Sherlo receiver for the gate ... interesting idea. Worth a shot. Maybe this weekend's project

Can't believe nobody has told me off, for auto-opening the gate when hass detects wife and I entered home zone while connected to bluetooth (which seems like a bad idea - but would be so cool :D)
Click to expand...
You know you've got the gears turning, so now I will have to do the same. Sheet, more work haha
 
As promised, so this is how my far my 'wide gap ' magnetic switch is from the sensor housed inside the gate motor.

It's just stuck to the gate using silicon and has not fallen off (on a bumpy track) for what must be 8 months now IIRCIMG_20210901_180035~2.jpg
 
TedLasso said:
As promised, so this is how my far my 'wide gap ' magnetic switch is from the sensor housed inside the gate motor.

It's just stuck to the gate using silicon and has not fallen off (on a bumpy track) for what must be 8 months now IIRCView attachment 1138756
Click to expand...

looool

i will take pics of mine and share when i get a sec
 
HunterNW said:
On this topic (Sort of).. It should be possible to mount a device with a simcard to phone my gate to open/close.
Where do i get that device ?
Click to expand...
We have these on our gates in Windhoek. I think it was a GSM Module from Centurion. We have 10 number saved, and a SMS or a single ring from any of those numbers triggers the motor.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X