Giving an apartment keyless entry

lock

The key for [rybitski]'s apartment is a copy of a copy of a copy, and the landlord lost the original key years ago. The lock itself still works, but opening it with [rybiski]'s key is a chore. He wanted to make it easier to get into his apartment, and with Arduinos and such he figured he could make a keyless entry device for his front door. After figuring out how to open his deadbolt with an … [Read more...]

Key code door lock won’t endanger your security deposit

keypad-deadbolt-add-on

College students have returned in droves to dorms and apartments at campuses everywhere. So this is the time of year we usually start seeing some coded entry hacks. [Charmonkey] recently took on the challenge at his new apartment. There were some caveats though. He needed to ensure the Landlord could still enter using a key, and he didn't want to alter the door or the jamb in any way. What he came … [Read more...]

RFID entry uses homemade electronic strike

rfid-electronic-strike

[Fileark] built an RFID entry system that uses a pretty ingenious alternative to an electronic strike plate. An electronic strike is a rather expensive hinged plate that mounts in the door frame and catches the door latch. But this system opens a set of double doors. The door without the handle is fixed in place and has a normal strike plate. But it also has a deadbolt mounted in line with that … [Read more...]

USB authenticated deadbolt lock

usb_auth

The Makers local 256 sent us this USB authenticated deadbolt prject. For roughly $60 these guys built an authentication system that reads the serial number off of the chip in a USB storage device.  The actual content on the memory in the USB device is not used at all. They are using a Freeduino board to control its behavior. It has a magnetic sensor that keeps it from initiating the lock when the … [Read more...]