Garage Door open Check

Hi all, my apologies upfront if this is an old topic. I am new to home automation and am still confused about Vera usage. I just installed a garage door controller (LFM-20) and door/window sensor. Both appear to be working fine. Now I would like to add a schedule to check to see if the garage door is open after 8PM and have it send me a notification - can some one please point me in the right direction? Please keep it in layman’s terms as my head is already spinning :-[

I hope you have found the Garage door plugin to actually watch the Garage Door Sensor and Pulse the relay.

I am afraid your request is more than a trivial request.

I recommend the PLEG plugin.
There is a nice getting started guide.

You will need an input timer for it called “NightCheck”
It wii fire every day at 8:00 pm

And an input triigger called “DoorOpen” that is bound to the garage door sensor or the Garage Door Plugin, if you use it.

Then create a condition called “Announce” with the following Condition expression:

DoorOpen AND NightCheck

Then for the PLEG device go to the notifications tab and create a notification for when the condition
“Announce” is satisfied.

I do exactly what you are asking for but I use Vera Alerts. This is beyond a simple beginner step though. It involves a Lua script inside a scene, and you need to have Vera Alerts installed. The way this works is at the prescribed time a scene kicks off which turns off my outside lights, basement lights, etc., locks the doors, and checks the status of the garage doors. It then sends a message to my Android smart phone via Vera Alerts to tell me if the garage doors are open or closed.

If you want to attempt this let me know and I’ll give you the gory details.

[quote author=RichardTSchaefer link=topic=23242.msg157668#msg157668 date=1392324268]
I hope you have found the Garage door plugin to actually watch the Garage Door Sensor and Pulse the relay.

Thank you for responding. I did install the Garage Door plugin but could figure out what it does. I did manage to get the relay and door sensor to work and to notify me when the door is opened and closed. Not sure I understood all else you mentioned ???

I do exactly what you are asking for but I use Vera Alerts. This is beyond a simple beginner step though. It involves a Lua script inside a scene, and you need to have Vera Alerts installed. The way this works is at the prescribed time a scene kicks off which turns off my outside lights, basement lights, etc., locks the doors, and checks the status of the garage doors. It then sends a message to my Android smart phone via Vera Alerts to tell me if the garage doors are open or closed.

If you want to attempt this let me know and I’ll give you the gory details.[/quote]

Thank you for responding. I did install Vera Alert as I wanted to see if I could get it to send me a voice message like “Garage Door Opened” but have not been able to get it to work. Most definately I would love to get any tutoring you can provide ;D

[quote author=DigitalC link=topic=23242.msg157681#msg157681 date=1392328459]

[quote=“RichardTSchaefer, post:2, topic:179507”]I hope you have found the Garage door plugin to actually watch the Garage Door Sensor and Pulse the relay.

Thank you for responding. I did install the Garage Door plugin but could figure out what it does. I did manage to get the relay and door sensor to work and to notify me when the door is opened and closed. Not sure I understood all else you mentioned ???[/quote]

DigitalC,

Richard is telling you that the Garage Door app actually has built in logic to test the open/closed status of the door. I recommend that you take another look and consider using that to open and close your door. If you install it, you don’t have to look at the sensor to know if it is open/closed. It appears as a lock. Locked = Closed; Unlocked = Open.

great app

To use the Garage Door Plugin:

  1. Goto Your Door Sensor.
    Click the wrench icon.
    Click the Advanced Tab.
    In the Upper Left corner it will say device#XXX where XXX is a number.
    This number is the DoorSensorDevNum used in step 3
  2. Goto your LFM-20 Device
    Click the wrench Icon
    Click the Advanced Tab.
    In the upper Left corner it will say device#YYY where YYY is a number.
    This nunber is the DoorSwitchDevNumber used in step 3
  3. Goto the Garage Door Plugin
    Click the Wrench Icon.
    Click the Advanced Tab.
    Set the DoorSensorDevNum to the value of XXX from step 1
    Set the DoorSwitchDevNumber to the valye of YYY from step 2

[hr]
To get the PLEG beginners guide see:
http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,21603.0.html
You need to download and install both of the following:
http://apps.mios.com/plugin.php?id=3066
http://apps.mios.com/plugin.php?id=3086
[hr]
For Vera Alerts … Did you install the Android App Yet ?
Did you Register it ?
What is your Vera Alerts ID ?
It sounds like you already have a Vera Alerts Vera Plugin installed.
Have you created a Vera Mobile Profile yet ?
You will need the Vera Alerts ID from the Cell phone for that.
If that’s done … Post the Report from the Vera Alerts Plugin.
I will be able to advise your further once I see that.
[hr]
It’s a lot to take in … but I am sure you will like all the plugins I written to make things easier for you.

Ok, you start by creating a scene that does whatever you want as far as turning lights off, locking doors, or doing nothing at all. Set the Schedule to go off at the days/times you want, and then in the Luup section here is the code that checks my two garage doors and then sends me the message whether each is open or closed:

local DdoorStatus
local SdoorStatus

– Check S’s Door (device xx)
SdoorStatus = luup.variable_get(“urn:micasaverde-com:serviceId:SecuritySensor1”,“Tripped”,xx)

if (tonumber(SdoorStatus) == 1) then
luup.call_action(“urn:richardgreen:serviceId:VeraAlert1”, “SendAlert”,
{Message = “S’s garage door is OPEN{tone:1}”, Recipients = “your Vera Alerts ID”}, 80)
else
luup.call_action(“urn:richardgreen:serviceId:VeraAlert1”, “SendAlert”,
{Message = “S’s garage door is Closed{tone:1}”, Recipients = “your Vera Alerts ID”}, 80)
end

– Check D’s Door (device yy)
DdoorStatus = luup.variable_get(“urn:micasaverde-com:serviceId:SecuritySensor1”,“Tripped”,31)

if (tonumber(DdoorStatus) == 1) then
luup.call_action(“urn:richardgreen:serviceId:VeraAlert1”, “SendAlert”,
{Message = “D’s garage door is OPEN{tone:1}”, Recipients = “your Vera Alerts ID”}, 80)
else
luup.call_action(“urn:richardgreen:serviceId:VeraAlert1”, “SendAlert”,
{Message = “D’s garage door is Closed{tone:1}”, Recipients = “your Vera Alerts ID”}, 80)
end

Obviously you have to change xx and yy to the device IDs of your garage door(s), and “your Vera Alerts ID” to the 12 character ID code that you got from Vera Alerts. If you only have one garage door then just eliminate half the code.

Let me know if this helps.

Actually, you should use the Profile, or UserName (You can find the list of these on the Sent Alert Tab of the Vera Alert Plugin) in place of the “your Vera Alerts ID”.

The “your Vera Alerts ID” is supported for backwards compatibility. The others are more flexible and work with any/multiple Vera Alerts targets.

There is a LOT to understand in this example if you do not already have some understanding of LUA code and MCV Extensions.

[quote=“RichardTSchaefer, post:7, topic:179507”][hr]
It’s a lot to take in … but I am sure you will like all the plugins I written to make things easier for you.[/quote]

Thank you, I will give this a try. I am learning and truly appreciate your help and all your excellent plugins.

Ok, you start by creating a scene that does whatever you want as far as turning lights off, locking doors, or doing nothing at all. Set the Schedule to go off at the days/times you want, and then in the Luup section here is the code that checks my two garage doors and then sends me the message whether each is open or closed:
Let me know if this helps.
[/quote]

Thank you - this hurts my head but I need to learn it. Appreciate your help.

There are actually two different approaches being presented … in this thread!

One (by @ufd108) use a Scene and some attached LUA code.
The other by me uses the PLEG plugin.

Both require setting up a schedule …
One is done by editing the Scene … adding the appropriate schedule … and applying a modified version of the presented LUA code.

The other is done by editing the PLEG Input Schedule (In my example I named it NightCheck) . And setting up triggers, conditions and actions.
PLEG was developed to get past the requirement to use LUA code for anything other than the most trivial scene automation.
In PLEG a Graphical User Interface (GUI) allow you to associate the value of a Sensor to variable (DoorOpen). This is equivalent functionality to the luup.get_variable call in the LUA code. Using the GUI to do menu selections gets the right arguments as opposed to having to know the strange looking arguments to the luup.get_variable call.

You use the condition I provided to tie the Schedule to and the status together to trigger the action. The condition was named: Announce with a value of:
DoorOpen AND NightCheck

You use standard Vera Notification to get your alert. This is equivalent functionality to the luup.call_action calls in the LUA code. Also standard Vera Menu’s as opposed to strange/vague arguments/syntax to the luup.call_action.

Richard, I installed the Garage Door plugin and it is fully functional. Now I am working on the PLEG plugin and trying to get smart on it. I am working on one issue at a time so the Vera Alert will have to wait for now. I do have one more question regarding the Garage Door plugin - I have two separate garages and will be installing the z-wave components to the second garage. Do I just add another copy of the plug in and configure it like I did the first (naturally the device #'s would be different)?

Yep … to create a new instance of the Garage Door Plugin … Goto APPS on the top of the Vera Control Panel.
Then goto My Apps. Look for the Garage Door plugin. Click on the link next to the name. Then click Create Another.
Fill out the details … and you are good to go.

I put the sensor and the control switch devices into a separate room … that I have named virtual control. I do not normally interact with the devices in that room.
They are strictly supporting devices. Then my garage door plugin Locks are in the room called Garage.

Then when you use 3rd party apps, those devices will not be in the way.

[quote=“RichardTSchaefer, post:14, topic:179507”]Yep … to create a new instance of the Garage Door Plugin … Goto APPS on the top of the Vera Control Panel.
Then goto My Apps. Look for the Garage Door plugin. Click on the link next to the name. Then click Create Another.
Fill out the details … and you are good to go.

I put the sensor and the control switch devices into a separate room … that I have named virtual control. I do not normally interact with the devices in that room.
They are strictly supporting devices. Then my garage door plugin Locks are in the room called Garage.

Then when you use 3rd party apps, those devices will not be in the way.[/quote]

Richard, I have installed the garage door plugin and vera alerts and are both working fine (thank you for your help). I have also installed both PLEG and PLC and have attempted to set up a notification of the door is left open. Unfortunately after several test attempts, I can not get it to work. Not sure what I am doing wrong. If I am not imposing too much, can I get you to take a look at my setup (attached) and steer me in the right direction? Thanks ???

Were you editing the PLEG at the time you generated the report ?
Have you armed the PLEG ? If it’s in bypass mode the actions will not be executed.

In your notification. Do not use the “Condition is satisfied with status” type of notification. Vera has a bug processing this.
Use the first type; “Condition is satisfied”. The condition name needs to be the same name as a condition in your PLEG. In this example you only have one condition so it should be: Gar1Open1

Richard, in response to your questions:

Were you editing the PLEG at the time you generated the report ? NOT SURE, I THINK NOT
Have you armed the PLEG ? If it’s in bypass mode the actions will not be executed. IT IS AND WAS ARMED

In your notification. Do not use the “Condition is satisfied with status” type of notification. Vera has a bug processing this.
Use the first type; “Condition is satisfied”. The condition name needs to be the same name as a condition in your PLEG. In this example you only have one condition so it should be: Gar1Open1.
Ok, I changed the parameters per your recommendation and re-ran the plugin with negative results. Here is a copy of the report and status.

not to butt in, but would it not be a whole heck of a lot easier just to add the two notifications in the Garage Door device?

PS

I am a Huge fan of PLEG and use it for tons of heavy lifting, but it seems to be the proverbial elephant gun in this example.

[quote=“Bulldoglowell, post:18, topic:179507”]not to butt in, but would it not be a whole heck of a lot easier just to add the two notifications in the Garage Door device?

PS

I am a Huge fan of PLEG and use it for tons of heavy lifting, but it seems to be the proverbial elephant gun in this example.[/quote]
Generally I would say yes if I just wanted an open/closed notification. However, what I am trying to set up is a notification that the garage door is open after say 9PM as a reminder that I left the door open. I don’t know of any other way to do this other than to use the “elephant gun”. ;D

ahh, I should learn to read…