Automation to close garage door if there's no motion

SmartApps & Automations
1

Hello,

I recently migrated over to the new SmartThings app and since then have had to re-create all my automations. One of my most important yet simple automations I just can’t get functioning the same way it did under the old app. The automation goes like this…

  1. If there’s no motion for 10mins in my garage
  2. And the door is Open (all conditions must be met)
  3. Close the door (Linear Door Opener )
  4. Send me an alert.

What is happening no matter what I do is that if I go to open my garage door manually (not through smarttings), since there has not been motion detected in the 10mins prior, my door starts going up, then the automation kicks in and issues a close command within 3 seconds. So the garage door stops and is half way up in limbo.

Any advice on this? I attached a screenshot of my automation.

Garage Automation
Garage Automation750×1294 61.7 KB

1 Like
2

This looks right to me and should work. Try adding a mode restrictions and see if that makes any difference.

Alternatively you can also check out this garage door manager app which has similar features: [RELEASE] Garage Door Manager to Open and Close Automatically when People Arrive/Leave with Timer and Actions

1 Like
3

Thanks, I tried adding the mode restriction just now and it didn’t make a difference. It seems pretty silly that a simple automation like this can’t work under the new app.

4

I control mine with a simple Webcore piston

image
image463×502 9.79 KB

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5

Unfortunately the automation is working as designed. The problem is you want the garage door contact state to be a pre-condition/filter and not a trigger. Currently pre-condition is only available for Time and Modes.

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6

out of curiosity, how do you prevent motion to be triggered when door starts moving ?

7

That’s exactly what I’m wondering. I have no idea how I got this to work under the old app, but I’m sure the logic I went through wasn’t any different.

8

PIR motion sensors detect infrared moving across their vision. Garage doors don’t put off enough IR.

9

I’d consider using the multi-sensor and putting it in the top panel of the door.
If you manually open the door, the sensor opens, and you can use this opening as a condition “sensor stays open for 10 minutes” as a conditional.

10

Just use webCoRE. The New App rule engine is too darn flakey right now. It needs work. Big Time! :weary:

1 Like
11

I’ve had great response from Sharptools.

3 Likes
12

I’ll dig into this option…I haven’t used webCoRE yet.

1 Like
13

It’s the answer to most people’s automation issues. Very simple but can be very powerful. Plus, you can just import the code of a Piston that someone has already figured out. Yours is easy though and the above Piston will work just fine.

14

The issue may be in the logic. You are asking the door to close if there is no motion for 10 minutes. However, if there is no motion to begin with the timer wont start to count down the ten minutes.