Looking for ideas how to handle garage door opener controlled by momentary relay

#1

1) Give a description of the problem

Combined zwave momentary dry contact relay with my spare garage door opener, and now I can control my garage door via ST interface, however there is only push button.
Using Google home I can trigger the relay and trigger the opener.
It will trigger the relay for 3 seconds if I say Hey Google Garage door ON

There is contact on the garage doors to confirm if it’s closed/opened

2) What is the expected behavior?

Is there way to have 2 buttons in the ST app one to only open and second to ony close the door?

Hey Google Open garage door / Close garage door since right now it only triggers the opener without verification if it’s already opened or closed

How do ou folks generally manage garage door ?

Thanks

#2

Piston 1 called “Open Garage”:
If Contact is closed then Open Garage
Else Send SMS "Garage is already open

Piston 2 called “Close Garage”:
If Contact is open then Close Garage
Else Send SMS "Garage is already closed

Not sure of your setup, but I use a simulated switch. If I turn the switch ON, it runs the “Open Garage” piston. If I turn the switch OFF, it runs the “Close Garage” piston. (of course, no one is stopping you from using two switches, but I think my solution solves your issue)

Not sure of the exact command for Google Home, but with Alexa, I can say:
“Alexa, turn on Garage” (to open the door)
or
"Alexa, turn off garage" (to close the door)

Let me know if you need help setting up a simulated switch (virtual switch).

#3

Thanks for reply !
Will do that, didn’t think of creating the virtual switch.
Is it possible to customize the behavior of the switch in ST interface so it will actually show status of the garage door, and that it functions as momentary switch? Perhaps it can change color on status of the door?

Also, is it possible to hide the original trigger button from the relay in ST app? (Did some searching and looks like it’s not possible to hide device in the ST app)
Thanks

#4

I have not gotten into programming for ST yet, but I have two ideas…
(neither are precisely what you asked for)

(1) Make the virtual switch a ‘Favorite’ in ST, and it should be 99% reliable to both toggle and display the status of your door. (but will be inaccurate if the door opens by some other method)

(2) Make both the garage contact sensor and the virtual switch a ‘Favorite’ in ST, and use the virtual switch to control it, and the contact sensor to see it’s status

Of course, you could solve the issue in #1 by ‘complexifying’ the piston shown above. You could add a few lines of code so the virtual switch automatically adjusted itself if the garage opened by some other means. (the remote, for example)