This DIY Garage Door Opener and Camera Controls Your Door From Your Smartphone
We showed you how to open a garage door via Bluetooth , but this method allows you to open the door from anywhere, whether you’re at home or not, and watch a live stream from the garage on your phone. It’s perfect for letting kids in when they get home, or just checking if everything is okay.
Instructables user zarkani brought this home security project to life using an old Android phone, readily available electronics, and a free Android app called Alfred Security IP Cam . In short, he installs an old phone in his garage, actually connected to a garage door opener directly with a photocell. When it doesn’t open and close the garage door, it acts like a security camera that you can watch from anywhere on the internet (provided that you’ve set up your home network to allow remote access) and when you need to open or close the door garage, just use the app to activate your garage phone flashlight – it will disable the photocell and open the door.
The whole process is pretty simple and is described in the video above. From the Instructables link below, it gives you the schematic diagram you will need to create a light activated control to open the door, although it leaves you with the option to wire the circuit to your particular garage door model. Be sure to check out the comments on Instructable as well – he links to where he got all the pieces and a few more clarifying details.
Open your garage door from anywhere plus a security camera! | Instructables