Garage Tilt Sensor

Devices & Integrations Connected Things
1

I have a few questions that I was hoping the community could help answer.

  1. Is there a specific garage door sensor that can be used to determine open/closed on the garage? If not and I just use the SmartSense Multi can it be used without the magnet piece to detect orientation, or are most people using it with one piece on the door and the other on the track/frame?

  2. Is there any type of keypad I could use to disarm the alarm or do most people just use the “presence”? Is there a recipe/app that has been created that functions as an alarm with an on/off/partial settings?

  3. Are there any security cameras that are compatible with Smart Things yet?

Thanks for your help with these questions. I am sorry if this belongs in the general forum or somewhere else.

2
  1. Using a contact sensor would be the most reliable, but you can use orientation.
  2. I think most people use presence. For a general security system, I use this: https://github.com/imbrianj/forgiving_security/blob/master/forgiving_security.groovy
    with this to set home / away / night modes: https://github.com/imbrianj/nobody_home/blob/master/nobody_home.groovy
  3. Dropcam, I believe works well. I use (cheap) Foscam using this device type: https://github.com/imbrianj/foscam/blob/master/foscam.groovy
    along with this app installed in “Away” to arm it: https://github.com/imbrianj/secure_my_foscam/blob/master/secure_my_foscam.groovy
    For Foscam, you’ll need to configure it with a place to upload the pictures, which for many, is a pain.
3

Thank you very much for your reply. I will use the contact sensor for the garage door.

I am trying to figure out the whole “presence” thing, because it becomes confusing. If my wife and I leave the house together and leave a set of keys (and presence sensor) behind it will not automatically set the mode/alarm. I guess in that situation I need to manually set it via the app. I also am not sure if I would want to use the iPhone presence or a presence sensor. I guess the benefit of the sensor is less battery drainage on the phone.

I am thinking about getting a foscam. Do you have somewhere that it saves the video to? I have a synology NAS drive and I am not sure if I can have it record to there as well as access it via SmartThings (or if they will conflict when both trying to access it). I also wonder if a foscam could double as a motion sensor in the smartthings programs or if it has to be one or the other (motion or camera).

4

When my wife leaves her fob at home, I have to manually set my mode to “Away”. I like using the fobs for the reason you mention: battery life.

Foscam can either email you photos or upload to some remote FTP. If your NAS has FTP support, it should work. I have it upload static photos (not video) to a remote server. The Foscam does not have any means (that I’m aware of) to trigger a “motion detected” message. With some effort, you could have it configured to send an email or upload to an ftp that can be listening for those events, then fire a REST request to the ST server. You know if an image is uploaded, motion was detected. You know if an image hasn’t been uploaded for the last 30 seconds or so, motion is no longer detected. This all, however, requires some custom code outside ST.

5

I appreciate your response. I think I will hold off on security camera since it sounds like Smart Things is very close to an integrated solution.
I do have another security/alarm question. With the lowes iris we have a chime when any door or window is opened (when the alarm is unarmed). Is there any device that could do this? I really like this feature to audibly know when the kids may have opened a door or window. aside from a siren I don’t know of anything that could make a chime/alert. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!