Bluetooth Controlled Garage Door Operator

[ExiledInIllinois]

Here is a pretty cool setup to turn your garage door operator (GDO) into a Bluetooth contolled device that can be controlled from any paired smartphone. Back in May of last year I worked it into my door operator. Even know the person (Lou) who developed this has tested it extensively, I finally feel comfortable with this setup to pass it on to others since I have tested it in all conditions over the last 8 months. It has been working great ever since. Pretty neat AND SECURE (the device has to be physically paired) if you follow the directions. Again, I have been testing it in all conditions and multiple Bluetooth situations. Once it is set up, you will be able to control your door from any Android (heck, you can even use a PC... But that can get sketchy @ times since there is no specific app) device. You can do away with remotes. No more lost, hard to replace, expensive remotes!

 

http://btmate.com/

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cAtso2tzMo

 

This IS A HACK... Also explained here:

 

http://hackaday.com/...ge-door-opener/

 

"We have seen smartphone garage door openers in the past, but [Lou's] Hack is beautiful in its simplicity. His door opener tackles the problem without using computers, Arduinos, wireless modules or even any smartphone based applications. For this project all that is needed is a Bluetooth headset and a single transistor. The door opener uses the Samsung HM1100 Bluetooth headset, which [Lou] has done significant testing on to show that his creation is quite secure and will not open the door unexpectedly."

 

 

I have expanded on Lou's design slightly (hacked a "wireless module") to fit my situation (explained in the next paragraph). You can use his app from the Google play store to make switching the paired Bluetooth device easier... A buck 99 and it is good for the whole house/family w/ unlimited phones...

 

The only issue I ran into since I have a new GDO that doesn't use the basic "door bell" wall button but, a premium "smart" (time and temp) wall control unit is... When the Bluetooth is hooked right up to the motor/head unit in series (like the instructions say), power is momentarily lost (and the clock has to be reset) when the door is activated. Instead of trying to figure out a parallel combinations of transistors/resistors or what not... I devised a work around with the Bluetooth unit controlling a spare remote that is built into an enclosure. The nice thing about my work around is that you can lock out everything on the outside. Or even better, simply unplug it.

 

Here are some pictures of my setup:

 

Smart wall button-

 

 

Here is my work around. Notice that it is not wired in parallel (like BTMate uses) but, controls a remote that is in the enclosure box marked: "Auxiliary GDO Control Unit"-

 

 

Here is the whole GDO setup-

 

 

 

Oh... A nice thing is that this system can be expanded to have a another spare smartphone used as camera and WiFi device so as to control the gargage door from a remote location. Using this system requires no monthly subscription fees to control your GDO remotely from another location like the newest of GDO units offer!

 

Any of you techies out there see any hitch or security measure that the original developer/design or myself may have over looked?