Note that the photosensors are required to sense a 6" tall object. It may be possible to wire in an additional set higher up, but I haven't tried it.
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I have my radius quite small (less than two blocks, just up to the main road), but we have driven through our circle before. In that case, mine will go up when we enter and right back down when we leave.
I've never seen a false arrival in all the years of using Hubitat or Smartthings. If there's a false "positive" it's usually not marking home or away when it changes, not mysteriously marking it the opposite of what it should be. GPS and WiFi won't mark me home unless I actually am.
I have had it not close when I left, but I also have a rule to notify me if the door has been open for 10 minutes and the house is in Away mode. In that case, I just hit close on the dashboard or MyQ app.
Correct and this came up in a friends home inspection report that the sensors were higher than 6ā off ground. If anyone does move them make sure you put them back before you sell.
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I'm ashamed to say that this happened to me the other day.
I came home, garage door opened on (SmartThings) presence, but had to leave shortly, so garage door still open. This was unusual.
While backing up, in closed car with radio on, hear crunch.
The rear spoiler on the MINI hit the bottom garage door panel.
Garage door was closing based on 5 minutes after presence arrival, as per RM rule.
Have sensors down low, but they weren't tripped yet.
Amazingly, MINI spoiler appears undamaged, save for a tiny bit of lost paint.
Bottom panel was bent and off track. Managed to fix.
Got off lucky.
Anyway, I think I'd like to change the rule to make it pause while there is still motion in the garage. I'm not too familiar with RM. If it was simple auto, I'd put in a restriction switch. What's the equivalent in RM though?
Well, I tried the RM convert SA thing on a couple of virtual switches and a real light.
I'll try to incorporate it in my 5 minute close after presence on rule.
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Did your safety sensors not stop the door or was the movement to quick?
Why not just press the GDO remote button on your visor once you know the car is clear. I love automating but I still don't get why auto close garage doors are needed.
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The sensors are low. Even though the MINI is relatively low to the ground, it could be the tires might be the only barrier. Along with body length vs wheelbase, the spoiler extends out some, and the door was in motion. I backed out slow.
This was a rule to close the garage door 5 minutes after the car registered as arrived. I'm coming, not going. I pulled in and then headed out again, right at the 5 minute mark, apparently.
Right, but you can still just press the button to close the door once you're safely inside the garage. Auto open I can understand, it won't crush a person or a vehicle. But auto close? Auto kill.
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Point taken.
As I said upthread, my sensors at the proper height, but that makes them too low to see the body of the car. This means, like yours, they'd only see the wheels. If I was creating my own auto-close, I would consider adding extra sensors (leaving the 6" high ones) at 1 foot high, to catch the vehicle, too. I don't think I'd do auto-close without it.
(as I also said upthread, my car handles this automatically, and doesn't issue close until we're on the driveway 30' from the door).
But I'm still thinking of add extra sensors... just to be sure. I do wonder if another pair would work if wired in parallel.
not trying to beat a dead horse, just auto-close is scary to me.
I would also make sure to automate in the beeping alert/flashing light before the door starts to close. Our MyQ implementation has this, and its required by law for commercial products in the US. That would have clued you in that something was going on as you started to back out. Our MyQ equipped GDO flashes and beeps for about 10 seconds before it starts any remote activated close.
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Because it's one less thing to worry about when dealing with screaming children in the back seat.
Because visor buttons are a vulnerability.
Because people forget to close the garage door.
There are dozens of reasons to automate closing of the garage.
All modern garage door openers have a force down setting to prevent injury or property damage.
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We have the ability to close the door remotely, we just don't do it automatically based on time or sensors. Requires a human to press a button on a separate app (MyQ) after they've verified the path is clear and safe.
I would rather not rely on the force detection to prevent damaging my car or injuring a child.
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IMHO, to only prevent 'serious' injury and 'major' property damage.
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All the modern Chamberlain/Liftmaster doors have configurable 'close after' times (and ability to suspend auto close) that include the flashes and beeps. Sometimes KISS really is better. The force required to activate the auto reverse is pretty modest.
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People in this thread have problems I just don't have I guess.
Verifying the garage door is open or closed is just part of my routine in my car. Just like putting on and taking off seat belt.
I can't think of any time in the last 30 years I've ever accidentally left the garage door open when leaving.
Closing it when I'm home isn't an issue either. It's literally right next to the door at my house.
But for those that need it it is nice that there are some good suggestions in this thread.
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We talked about this in another thread. Perhaps add a secondary pair of sensors at tail light height.
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I am a big fan of automation and enjoy the hobby. I like perusing the threads just to get new ideas of what can be done. However, just like in my profession involving patients, ājust because something can be done, doesnāt mean it should be doneā. Was the convenience of not having to push a close button worth the hassle of repainting the spoiler, fixing a derailed garage panel (not to mention the possible heart attack when this happened, lol?). Just saying, but to each their own!
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