[sgt]

Cool. I have been thinking about this myself recently, and I had a different approach in mind. If you already have a remote (which I suppose is mostly the case with garage doors), why not integrate with the remote directly?

I.e. clone an additional remote, then integrate with the buttons from a micro-controller to open/close. In addition, have some kind of way of detecting whether the door is open or closed, so I suppose the remote can be placed near the motor.

That way you can also easily integrate into your house's alarm system later on if need be, as it's most likely linked to your remote.