Garage lighting and parking sensor project

I will use this post as a place to post my progress on a project for my garage. I am posting it in "Help Wanted" because I will inevitably need some help here. This first post will just be me trying to define the project for myself.

The end result for phase 1

I am going to split the project into phases. For the end of phase 1, I want to have the following setup:

• Four 24V 75W RGBW LED strips of 2.5 meters each in the ceiling
• A 24V DC power supply mounted in a box to the ceiling next to the outlet
• An Arduino mounted in a box to the back wall with an ultrasonic sensor pointing forward and a PIR sensor pointing towards the side door

This is the functionality I want for phase 1:

• The LED strips turn on full white when the PIR sensor detects motion, such as when a person enters the garage through the side door
• The LED strips turn on full white when the ultrasonic sensor senses a car approaching, such as when backing into the garage
• The LED strips turn on full green when the car is the proper distance from the sensor so that the garage door can close AND the trunk/boot door can open safely. I call this the safe zone for parking.
• The LED strips will flash full red if the car gets too close to the sensor
• The LED strips will turn full white for X seconds when the car has been stationary in the safe zone for Y seconds so that you can get everything out of the car and leave before the lights turn off

Considerations when it comes to programming:

• I should probably debounce the ultrasonic sensor both so that I don't take readings too often, but also in a way that I filter out false large distances that I have seen happen in my tests. It can jump from 20 cm to 1086 cm and then back again. I need to make sure a large change in distance is real before acting on it.
• I should probably program some "states", such as "car approaching", "car leaving", "car parked", and "no car present" so that I can ignore the PIR sensor when a car is approaching or leaving, etc.

Thoughts for phase 2

In phase 2 I want to add some other functionality. I want to connect the Arduino to my garage door opener using a cable so that I can automatically close the door when the car has left while simultaneously flashing red lights. I also want to add a magnetic switch or tilt detector to be able to tell if the door is open or closed. I fear that adding a tilt detector to the door will be a nightmare to cable manage, so a magnetic switch will probably be better. The garage door opener has an input for a photodetector that I could also add to stop the door if someone or something gets in the way while it is closing.

Current status

I have been shipped most of what I need to start this project. What I have done so far is being able to control the LED strip and fetch and use data from the ultrasonic sensor. I am going to work with the PIR sensor next. After that is up and running it's just a matter of programming the logic. The last, and for me the hardest, step is to connect all of this in a respectable package and mount it in the garage. I am particularly stressed about being able to connect the MOSFETs, resistors, and cables in a sensible way. I really want to just use Wago connectors and heat shrink, tucking everything into the boxes so it's not visible. But I probably have to buy a soldering station and learn to solder. I just want to avoid it if I can, because this is my first project and I don't really know how many other projects I will do that will require soldering given my daily time constraints right now. But again, I want to make something that can last.

Until the next post! 🙂