Thread: Here's what we need...

Originally Posted by Arathranar

A way to use the GPS to automatically trigger your garage door to open when you return home. I've got to have that!

Well, ok, not quite yet. I need to get my house extension done so that I actually have garage doors...

Ha! That would be tight. I want one too.

Originally Posted by Curiosity

I have to be within about 20ft to open my door and the GPS is accurate to something like 50ft depending on lots things, or what is it? Anyway, I think a button is easier.

When mine has a lock (takes a while), it's accurate down to about 1ft. Certainly good enough to open the garage door in time.

What if human beings had never learnt to use tools because they might hit their thumb with the rock? Luckily we're not all as negative.

Sure, there will be difficulties. But nothing that seems unsurmountable to me.

If my car PC was turned on and the the last GPS lock when it was turned off was near home, then it will do nothing (my GPS takes too long to lock to be usable to close the garage door unfortunately - which probably makes this a moot point for me but still worth coding for).

As for the rest of it, the point of a GPS is that it knows where you are (fairly accurately these days unless you have a crap receiver). So knowing when you are in range is the trivial part.

As for whether you are coming home. I guess you could have a house that you could drive within range of but not actually be returning to and just driving past. You could fix that in two ways - either don't have such a house (like me) or shorten the distance needed to fire the garage door opener so you actually have to be pulling up to the garage for it to go off.

And it's trivial enough to determine the direction the car is travelling. So you could restrict it to only fire when heading towards the garage. Then an instantaneous gps lock when leaving the house (oh I wish I could get that) would be ignored since it would note you were driving away.

try to use something more localized
not GPS

but maybe the garage has a built-in unit that detects something in the car and will open the door when you get close

or when your WiFi AP is detected

you could always also just wire up some sensors so your carpc will know when the garage is up and when its down...

if you get within range and it senses its down.. then it has to open it


the problem is when you want to close it