Smart garages aren’t necessarily new, but it’s no secret they are very often super-expensive up to a point where only a few people can actually afford them.
This is why a researcher from China has created a smart garage that uses a Raspberry Pi and Node-Red to scan the car plate and automatically open the door for access if the plate itself is added to a whitelist.
So technically, this is an automated system whose purpose is to recognize your car whenever you arrive home and open the door of the garage for more convenient access.
A rough demo published on YouTube shows how the Raspberry Pi-powered system can be trained to recognize any car plate when the vehicle approaches. Of course, the system isn’t yet fully reliable and additional polishing is still required, but it’s without a doubt a good place to start for a more advanced prototype.
Additionally, the smart garage can also send notifications to the owner’s phone whenever access to the garage if offered to a specific car.
“In this video, we introduce Smart Garage, a car recognition system with Raspberry Pi and Node-Red. The ultrasonic ranger sensor can detect the motion when the car is approaching, notifications will be sent to the owner through email and SMS,” the developers explain.
“The motion will trigger the car recognition system (we use openALPR open-source library) to identify if the approaching car is the owner’s car. If it is, the stepper motor will run automatically to open the garage for the owner. We also use LCD RGB display, LED light and other devices to monitor the garage.”
The researcher explains there’s a lot more work to do on this project, including encrypting the communication, as well as updating the mobile app with more options, such as direct control settings for the garage door.
Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kid’s toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones. Full profile
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