Garage door and gate opener platform plugin for Homebridge on Raspberry Pi with a PiFace Digital board.

Suitable for any device — garage door, gate motor — that requires a brief relay contact to trigger open/close. Supports open/closed magnetic sensors for real-time state monitoring. Multiple doors/gates can be configured in a single platform entry.

Prerequisites

These steps must be completed before installing the plugin.

1. Enable SPI

sudo raspi-config
# Interface Options → SPI → Yes
sudo reboot

2. Install build tools

sudo apt-get install -y git build-essential

3. Compile and install PiFace libraries

# libmcp23s17
git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/piface/libmcp23s17.git /tmp/libmcp23s17
cd /tmp/libmcp23s17 && make && sudo make install

# libpifacedigital
git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/piface/libpifacedigital.git /tmp/libpifacedigital
cd /tmp/libpifacedigital && make && sudo make install

sudo ldconfig

Installation

Install via the Homebridge UI (recommended) or from the terminal:

sudo hb-service add homebridge-garage-piface

Note: If the PiFace libraries were installed after the plugin, rebuild the native module:

cd /var/lib/homebridge/node_modules/homebridge-garage-piface
sudo env PATH="/opt/homebridge/bin:$PATH" /opt/homebridge/bin/npm rebuild node-pifacedigital
sudo hb-service restart

Migration from v2.x

Version 3.x converts the plugin from accessory to platform type. The postinstall script migrates your existing config automatically when you update via the Homebridge UI.

After the update, a full service restart is required — either from the Homebridge UI (menu → Restart Service) or from the terminal:

sudo hb-service restart

Note: The "Restart Homebridge" button only restarts the bridge process. Use Restart Service to also restart Config UI X and clear the plugin type cache.

Configuration

Configure via the Homebridge UI plugin settings, or edit config.json directly.

"platforms": [
  {
    "platform": "GaragePiFace",
    "name": "Garage PiFace",
    "accessories": [
      {
        "name": "Garage",
        "switchOutput": 0,
        "switchValue": 1,
        "switchPressTimeInMs": 1000,
        "closedSensorInput": 0,
        "closedSensorValue": 1,
        "openSensorInput": 1,
        "openSensorValue": 1,
        "pollInMs": 4000,
        "opensInSeconds": 15
      },
      {
        "name": "Gate",
        "switchOutput": 1,
        "switchValue": 1,
        "switchPressTimeInMs": 500,
        "opensInSeconds": 20
      }
    ]
  }
]

Parameters

| Parameter | Required | Default | Description | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | name | yes | — | Display name in HomeKit | | switchOutput | yes | — | PiFace output relay index (0–7) | | switchValue | | 1 | Relay active value: 1 = ACTIVE_HIGH, 0 = ACTIVE_LOW | | switchPressTimeInMs | | 1000 | Duration the relay stays active (ms) | | closedSensorInput | | — | PiFace input pin for closed position sensor (0–7) | | closedSensorValue | | 1 | Input value when door is closed | | openSensorInput | | — | PiFace input pin for open position sensor (0–7) | | openSensorValue | | 1 | Input value when door is open | | pollInMs | | 4000 | Sensor polling interval (ms) | | opensInSeconds | | 10 | Time for the door to fully open or close (s) |

If neither sensor input is configured, the plugin relies on last known state.

Hardware wiring

The PiFace Digital board provides 8 open-collector outputs (relays 0–1 are physical relays) and 8 inputs with pull-up resistors.

• Connect the relay output to the door/gate motor trigger terminals.
• Connect magnetic sensors to the input pins. Set closedSensorValue / openSensorValue to 1 for normally-open contacts, 0 for normally-closed.

Credits

Based on homebridge-garage-gate-opener by MForge.org.