Physical Access Control Project

Project Lead: Users:Q
Current Members: Elliot, Nathan and Ash

Abstract
The access control project, which has had many names over the past few weeks of its existence, is a project with two main goals in mind. The security of our space and the convenience of entry for all of our members. The project has been developed into two stages and contains the first stage of a revitalization of the mechanical locking mechanisms currently being used as well as an enhancement to the door frame and its underlying structure and the second stage being the development of a brand new electronic security system with improved access control.

If you would like to add ideas please do so on the DISCUSSION page, if you are a member of this project feel free to add to this page.

Stage One:

    o Using longer, stronger screws in the door's frame to enhance the structural integrity
    o Replacing the crappy core cylinder that is currently in there with a new Medeco 10 series rim/mortise cylinder
    o Reinforcing the hinges and making sure they are all strong enough to handle a kick by the feds (joke, please no emails)
    o Either buying a new door knob or fixing the internals of the current, it was possible to lock yourself in when we first arrived.

Stage Two:

    o Implementing a smart card reader system (contacted)
    o Installing the impeding mechanism
    o We may need a circuit in the middle of the impeding mechanism and the card reader to do perform some logic
         It depends on how the reader we buy is setup, if there are usable pins on the unit we could piggy-back
         a connector and setup a small circuit (diode and tiny IC) to supply voltage to the impeding mechanism when
         user_card = accepted;
    o Writing all the access cards for members
    o Developing a PAX system for the backend to log entry data and control users access (helpful for janitor access)
    o Use the PAX system to develop alerts that can be broadcast over TCP

Wed, May 14, 2008:
Andrew ("Q"), Ash, and Elliot have continued brainstorming. Posted up a link on the blog [1] to discuss ways to go. Great suggestion (though it might have been a (brilliant) joke?) to make a DDR pad. Elliot's been messing around with the Parallax RFID board, and learning what it can/can't do, but he's terribly terribly new to RF stuff.

Wed, May 21, 2008:
Last night, we started looking at the door in question, realized that it only had a handle-lock on it, and realized that we're going to need a wholly new locking mechanism to do anything useful/secure with -- so that's going to be project #1 in terms of serious implementation.

Wed, June 5, 2008
So last night at open lab I disassembled the current locking mechanics and made sure everything would work when buying a regular mortise cylinder core from Medeco. Everything looks good to go, I think I'm going to use the existing backplate which should be fine as long as we get a tail on our new core. The door knob and internals are still really flaky, but they really aren't even necessary at this point. With the new core, (Medeco 10 series) we will have sufficient security and it will be 100x better than our current locks. -Q