Tomorrow a local company is coming to automate the sliding gate at the front of our new house. This will allow our kids to safely play in the front garden without fear of them escaping or anyone getting in at them. It will also provide an additional level of security because anyone breaking in is going to need to hop the front fence on the way in and out.

We’re getting a Deimos BT motor with remote relay boards that suit the spare buttons on the remote controls for our automatic garage door. The motor uses a 24V DC drive with a step down AC/DC inverter and includes a battery backup allowing the gate to open and close in the event of a power failure. Manual release for the unit (to manually open the gate) is via a key and a clutch release mechanism on the motor. Which sounds like a pain in the butt. So, I’ve asked the installer to bring along some keypads to suit the motor because the idea of getting in and out via a keypad seems like a good one.