Won’t work unless the door pegs are perfectly aligned, if there’s the slightest tension there’s no way that flimsy motor is going to do the job, besides there’s no way to fit that into a regular door, plus the rod would probably break with a rough sneeze.

Sorry but while I appreciate the hack, it has no practical value.

Posted at 11:22 am on Nov 25th, 2009 by Magrathea

i usually like to find something to argue about but im gonna have to agree with magrathea on this one..

Posted at 11:27 am on Nov 25th, 2009 by Jeff Wallin

LOL, yes i tought it was voice controlled too.
Now you mention the ofscreen buttons this has indeed no practical value.
Verry McGyverish do.

Posted at 11:41 am on Nov 25th, 2009 by oler

I’m sure you guys already know, but can you not see that while the actual mechanism is weak, the principle and techniques used mean that once a better mechanism is found (if needed of course) then he has a great system. A lot of the hard work has already been done for this one at this stage. I think the main focus of his project is to get an interface with the keypad->uC->lock. The ‘lock’ signal from the uC board could just flick a relay to shift the biggest dead bolt in the world.

Posted at 11:46 am on Nov 25th, 2009 by tom

Haha… reminds me of the original Star Trek series… someone standing aside opening the door doing “shhhht” … awesome XD

Posted at 11:52 am on Nov 25th, 2009 by Dave

There’s all sorts of issues with power doors locks. I know this because I work for a company that makes them. Blac & Decker, who makes the Weiser Power Bolt, had a lot of issues with doors that weren’t hung exactly right. As a result, the bolt wouldn’t engage strike pocket.

Ultimately, they fixed a huge majority of the problems by going to a bullet-nosed bolt. As the bolt engages, the door moves into position.

Being a battery operated lock, there’s a tradeoff between torque and battery life. All the torque int he world will do you no good if the batteries only last 2 months, and having batteries last two years, but with a bolt stopped by ANY binding is worthless.

This is a cute “hack”, but it’s unfortunately not terribly practical. In a situation where you have a swinging door, an electric strike is your best bet. Requires more installation effort that just replacing the bolt, but fitting an electric strike into a strike pocket is a lot easier than fitting a CDROM mechanism into the wall or the door.

Posted at 12:50 pm on Nov 25th, 2009 by jc

Now, THAT’s a hack ! Voice control aside, using CD-ROM mechanical parts is a great idea. Or is it a back because of the arduino ?

Posted at 1:09 pm on Nov 25th, 2009 by j_at_chaperon

The right tool for the job is powerful, robust, easy to mount, contains integrated limit switches, runs off a 12V SLA battery, and best of all you can get it for free. Google ‘power door lock actuator’.

https://static.am-autoparts.com/item/571d7b9f0a.jpg

I rigged up a friend’s door with a car lock actuator linked to a hasp which closed over a ground-down 5/8″ bolt head in the frame. The hasp did all the work, the actuator simply moved it into position. The door was impenetrable, and the installation was so permanent his landlady used it as a basis to deny his deposit. Be careful how you modify your home.

Posted at 1:28 pm on Nov 25th, 2009 by reboots

Hey Hack a Day readers,
I’m the builder of this project and I certainly apologize if I led anyone to believe that the lock was voice activited. I stated that it was not on my blog post, but by watching only watching the video I can definitely see how you would come to that conclusion. My 5-year-old son was operating the lock from the keypad when I filmed its operation. I SHOULD have listened to my 9-year-old son when he commented “this video makes it seem like the lock is controlled by your voice”. !!! Nonetheless, the lock is operated by a keypad. The user must input the proper code to lock/unlock the mechanism.

The bolt looks flimsy but it’s pretty sturdy. By drilling big holes in the door and jamb, I had plenty of tolerance to deal with misalignment. I WAS worried about alignment, but it worked out well. Seriously, I leaned on the locked door pretty hard and it held firm.
-Michael

Posted at 7:26 pm on Nov 25th, 2009 by Michael Krumpus

Michael – well executed, simple and works. While the strength of the lock is questionable, in many circumstances the lock does not require invincibility (most locks can be forced with ease, and those that can’t are generally in doors that can be easily damaged, so the lock is merely an inconvenience and yours provides this).

Now get making it voice controlled to take it one step further :)

Posted at 9:40 am on Nov 26th, 2009 by James

Great post.Keep Posting

Posted at 3:12 am on Dec 12th, 2009 by CCTV security systems

In my experience cctv security is a tough business

Posted at 10:39 am on Jan 4th, 2010 by Tawanna Handelsman