BrmDoor

DIY Access Control and Burglar alarm
founder:	crowdsourcing
depends on:
interested:	harvie niekt0 pasky blackhead b00lean swez stick sargon
software license:
hardware license:
status:	done

For hackerspace more secure and without the annoyance of physical keys. DIY digital lock control, open/closed space status monitor and burglar alarm.

Status: Currently, we have digital lock control and open/closed space status monitor. Doorbell is work in progress. Burglar alarm is TODO long-in-the-future.

System Architecture: Digital lock, card reader and Club Mate panel are hooked up on an Arduino. The Arduino needs just power - it unlocks the door autonomously, the list of allowed cards is stored internally. The Arduino is further (optionally) reporting to brmd daemon which provides web, IRC interface to the status and unlock notifications.

Executive summary, how to get in without a key - arrange registering your RFID card with stick first, then you need to sometime come physically to brmlab to meet with him; he will add your ID to the Arduino sketch code. (We do not use external database out of security concerns.)

If your card is registered, just put it at the door around the place with the “RFID” sticker. When you unlock the door, you will hear a click - then, you can open it. After a short while, you will hear another click and the door auto-locks itself again. At the other side, unlock visual feedback is provided by the orange Arduino LED.

• Simple token-based Identity Check device (we just rely on serial numbers for starters):
  • [DONE] MiFare RFID cards (e.g. ISIC, OpenCard, or plain tokens)
    • We have http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/1356mhz-rfid-module-iosiec-14443-type-a-p-196.html.
    • We have it wired up and can detect a card and receive its serial id. Tested on ISIC and OpenCard, works like a charm!
    • It is already duct-taped at the inner side of the door. Most rfid cards have no trouble with talking through the wooden door; a sticked by chido marks the spot. The wires are routed off the door through UTP cable.
    • TODO: More secure crypto-based auth?
  • [TODO] harvie can provide a USB smartcard reader. That means people will be able to use e.g. their bank cards to enter, or some plainer tokens. (Or OpenCard, but just the much less common version.)
• Lock device:
  • [DONE] BERA-E electromagnetic clock, sponsored by b00lean!
    • From inside, it is possible to open the door anytime by just pushing the handle.
    • From outside, it is possible to open the door by turning the lock by the key, OR by pushing the handle if +15V is fed in.
    • We have it wired up and can control it fine. The wires are routed off the door through UTP cable.
    • AxTheB breadboarded a Darlington IC that switches the 15V based on 5V TTL input. The power source used to be first an old ATX PSU (unreliable, 12V sometimes cannot unstuck the lock), then PoE adapter, now a dedicated DC adapter.
• [DONE] Microcontroller will interface the hardware (RFID reader, EM lock)
  • We use just Arduino hooked up on USB serial (sponsored by TomSuch)
  • TomSuch created a mini-shield that has all the extra wiring and Darlington.

Programmed mainly by tomsuch and stick during overnight hacking session. One-line message is sent to serial every 1 second. It can have one of the following 3 forms:

1. NOCARD
   • no card is detected
2. CARD <username> 0123456789ABCD
   • card from ACL is detected
3. CARD UNKNOWN FEDCBA98765432
   • card not found in ACL

When message 2 is sent (card in ACL found), the door is also unlocked for few seconds.

Each message is prefixed by two space-separated boolean numbers; the first denotes the state of the “status” switch, the other the state of the “video” switch.

The Arduino sketch is here: source

How to detect whether the space is currently inhabited?

Two big switches with LEDs are now by the door (“Club Mate Panel”); the one with green led is to be switching the open/close status, while the one with yellow led switches on/off live stream from brmlab.

Few more old photos @ https://picasaweb.google.com/petr.baudis/BrmdoorStatusPanel

The software side is brmd, awesome brmlab integration hub that collects data from various sources and provides unified reporting on IRC and web. So you can see the current status on http://nat.brmlab.cz/brmd/ and IRC topic contains the current status too.

Pasky’s blogpost about fighting with Perl POE

brmd runs at brmdoor@ecor1 (the PC behind the door).

brmd also allows Alphasign control. It is a LED display with scrolling random text in the middle of the wall. Random status information is normally periodically shown by cronjobs running at brmlab@sargon.

The requirement is to always have a backup way to get in, even when the digital control gets stuck at the most inconvenient moment in the most stupid way. Also, the building owner always needs to have a means of access, a plain key if possible; this is also related to fire regulations. Therefore, having digital entry as primary access method, with couple of backup plain keys in case things go wrong, should be the most preferred method.

Some means of the digital entry should still work if the network is offline for some reason.

The door is always closed from the outside and locked and must be unlocked every time before it is open; it stays unlocked for a short period enough to open the door. TODO: We also should have some A/V indication of lock status _and_ brmdoor open/close status.

This is mostly a wishlist. Not likely to add significant stuff. Just a doorbell is currently in development.

• Door interface:
  • RFID Reader
  • SmartCard Reader (We can use Prague OpenCard to unlock the doors - both SC and even RFID version)
  • PIN Keyboard
  • Web challenge-response
  • Possibly some results of Biometrics project
  • External manual control
    • With the DIY http://aggregate.org/DIT/peepfish/ door peephole webcam we'll be able to recognize visitors through closed doors and let them in remotely even when nobody with key will be present in brmlab.
• Detectors:
  • PIR Motion detectors
  • Magnetic contacts (doors)
  • Webcam
• Alarm:
  • Tripwire must be protected by resistor (avoids shorting/cutting it)
  • All components must be backed up by battery
• Output:
  • Internet (Web, Mail, IRC)
  • Siren?

• change geocoordinates by prusnak (2013/05/02 22:43)
• end logo with .png by prusnak (2013/05/02 21:29)
• add facebook to spaceapi json by prusnak (2013/01/14 10:55)
• use better logo by prusnak (2013/01/12 14:20)
• fix irc position in spaceapi json by prusnak (2013/01/12 14:18)

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerberus
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burglar_alarm
• maybe we can collaborate on existing Open Access Control for Hacker Spaces project?
  • http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/Open_Access_Control_for_Hacker_Spaces
  • http://code.google.com/p/open-access-control/
• yet another doorlock projects made by various hackerspaces http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/Doorlock