ratgdo

View the Project on GitHub PaulWieland/ratgdo

What is ratgdo?

ratgdo is a WiFi control board for your garage door opener that works over your local network using MQTT or ESPHome. It connects to your door opener with three simple wires.

It works with virtually any residential Chamberlain or Liftmaster manufactured garage door opener and also offers basic support for other brands which use dry contacts to control the door.

It can control the door and report back the actual status of the door (closed, opening, open, closing). For Security + 2.0 door openers, the obstruction sensors, light, wireless lockout and even motion sensing are also integrated.

See here for more information regarding which features work with which door opener.

ORDER

LEAD TIME NOTICE:

Please allow 3 weeks for shipment. This increased lead time is due to the necessity of issuing a hardware revision (v2.0 to v2.5). Lead times will continue to improve.

TOC

Quick Start

About ratgdo

ratgdo gives you local MQTT / ESPHome & dry contact control plus full status feedback for your Chamberlain/LiftMaster garage door opener. Security+ 2.0 uses an encrypted serial signal to control the door opener’s open/close and light functions, which makes it impossible to use Shelly One, Go Control, Insteon I/O linc or any other dry contact relay device to control the door. ratgdo supports virtually all residential garage door openers made by Chamberlain, and also supports other manufacturers through dry contact control.

ratgdo is a hardware control board that wires to your door opener’s terminals. The firmware allows you to control the door with MQTT or ESPHome over your local WiFi network which can be used to integrate directly with NodeRED or Home Assistant, eliminating the need for another “smart” device. WiFi is not required if you wish to only use the dry contact interface.

ratgdo is not a cloud device and does not require a subscription service. The firmware is open source and free for anyone to use.

Version 2.5

Version 2.5 adds support for Security + 1.0 openers as well as standard dry contact openers. Extra wiring terminals for your wall control panel and obstruction sensors have been added which simplifies the installation.

Version 2.0

Version 2.0 eliminates the need to solder to your garage door’s logic board. It works with all Security + 2.0 openers, including 45 series logic boards.

Version 2.0 also provides discrete light on/off commands.

ratgdo v2.5 available to order Boards are available and shipping domestic USA via USPS. Shipping to Canada is also available, but costs $14. Shipping to the EU and Austrailia varies between $15 and $20.

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ratgdo ESP Flasher

These instructions explain how to flash the ratgdo firmware from your browser (Google Chrome or Chromium based browsers required).

Installing the firmware

  1. You must use Google Chrome or a Chromium based browser. No other browsers support serial device communication at this time.
  2. Connect ratgdo to your Mac or PC with USB cable (Additional USB to UART drivers may be required).
  3. Click here to launch the ratgdo ESP Web Tools flasher
  4. Choose the version you wish to install
    • ratgdo - includes WiFi configuration through ESP Tools. After flashing the firmware, ESP tools will ask you for your WiFi credentials. After ratgdo connects to your network, you will be given the option to Visit Device so you can configure the MQTT settings.
    • ratgdo (WiFi Disabled) - If you do not wish to use WiFi or MQTT, choose the WiFi Disabled version. With this version you can control the garage door with the ratgdo dry contacts only.

Mounting Suggestion

The ratgdo board has a pair of holes in it which can be used to physically mount the board. The easiest method is to use a zip tie to mount the board to the slots in the translucent white light cover.

Disclaimer

Use this device at your own risk. To avoid risk of injury or property damage only operate the garage door within line of sight.

ratgdo is a product of ratCloud llc and is not affiliated in anyway with the Chamberlain Group.

Security +, Security + 2.0, myQ are trademarks of the Chamberlain Group.

© 2023 ratCloud llc