Finally made my Z-wave doggy door!

It's slow and loud (like me) but it works! I'm using a Zooz Zen17 multirelay as the controller.

(For the record, this door will automatically open in the morning, and won't be closed until all pets are in in the evening.)

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You didn't give the poor dog a chance to go through it before closing it!! Where is the dog anyway? You do have one I hope?

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I have 3 dogs and a cat....that was kinda the reason for doing this.

Wish I could get a [zWave, zigbee, caseta, hue] chicken coop door opener!

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Good, so now I look forward to a video of them using it. I was kind of worried the dog/s would lose patience and crash through it while half way up. :slight_smile:

Here are some of the videos I looked at for ideas. At some point, I plan to redo my door with a shorter piston, and use some sort of force-multiplier like this guy does....but I'm happy with what I have for now. He uses a different controller, but the Zen17 would work just as well here.

Two other ideas.

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@Inge_Jones , my dogs aren't that crazy. They're used to it being closed at night (for the cat).

When I played your video, my Alexa responded with squeeze toy sounds. She heard "Doggy doggy."

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Yeah, I created a routine where "Alexa, Open Doggy Door" would activate a virtual switch, but she often replies with something called "Doggy Doggy" that plays a squeeze toy, lol

We have has a HighTechPet doggy door for 12 years now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgxqWls27pY

It has required a few mechanical tweaks over the years, but they sell every part.

Last year, I upgraded to their new wifi model. I don't have time to reverse-engineer the smartphone app's API to do a Hubitat integration, but would love to have one that I could use to trigger the back yard lights on when the dog lets himself out in the middle of the night (I have a Z-Wave contact switch on it now) and turn the door off when t-storms are approaching so that the OCD knucklehead doesn't go running out trying to bite the lightning.....

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You need to activate it by your dog’s microchip, using a microchip reader like our SurePet Pet Door.

I do hope it has a force sensor and stops if it's high. It would be really awful if the pet, trying to get through as it's closing, gets injured.

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But as you pointed out, it can't be controlled thru Hubitat. Mine can.

We will only close ours when we know all the pets are in in the evening. The only automaticity is opening the door on the morning.

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:+1: :+1: :grin:

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...yet!!!

I could easily install a Z-Wave relay into the unit to toggle the on/off switch, or remove the backup gel cell battery and use a Z-Wave remote power outlet to switch off the power. The "correct" way is obviously to reverse-engineer the cloud API, but there are other hackish options like these to do what I need.....

@mebejedi , @bptworld

Wonder if we should start a new thread on the general topic of "chicken automation".

As a result of an unexpected adoption, coop and all... I'm now interested in the topic. Automating the works; door, watering, and feed drop. Daily cleanup and health check excluded of course.

The feed drop has me intrigued...maybe due to this guy's cool project that likely has me over complicating what's really required. :rofl:

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:rofl:

Actually, that device is making me think of a cool way to make sure the dry dog food bowl is always full. Can't figure out what the guy used for the screw, though...a solid piece of PVC?

[EDIT] Found it in the comments....PVC Trim!

Wish I could find a cheap version of this!

[EDIT] Damn....THIS is cool!

This guy is printing his augers.

yeah, incredibly innovative. There's a number of things, namely tolerances, that I would have thought would have doomed this idea...but the proof is in the outcome ...it does indeed work with that particular material (feed)!

I think there's a collection of things here that could contribute to a good solution. I'd be happy with a few days supply in a mounted bin (in or outside of the run) that would dose a few times a day!

Seeing that 3D print version makes me even more impressed that the guy heating up and forming PVC trim pieces got a functional machine out of it!

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Well, he isn't cutting diamonds...it ain't stupid if it works! :wink:

Any ideas on how to monitor open/close of this door?
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B08WCKVGR1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I thought, easy peasy, put a small contact sensor - except the door slides inside the rails and makes a complete pass from bottom (within the lower frame) to top (recessed within the top frame) so any magnet would catch on both top or bottom..

Here's my chicken coop automation:

"Eggs added to your grocery store shopping list"

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