Hello, /diy/, my university dorm is set up in a suite format with two rooms on either side of a bathroom, but my roommates and I moved all of our beds to one room and all of our desks/computers to the other room as a work/recreation room.
I will only have a key to the bedroom side of our suite, and figured that over the break I could build a machine for fun and convenience which would allow me to automate the locking mechanism and be controllable from a phone or using NFC.
What I have to work with:
>raspberry pi
>not much engineering experience, but I've done some simple things with arduino and written a few simple programs in assembly.
>free time I'd rather not waste on video games or something.
>pic related is the door, which requires the locking mechanism be turned, followed by the door handle being turned about a quarter-way to engage the unlocking mechanism.
>$200 budget
I plan on mounting the whole mechanism to the door using heavy-duty suction cups since modifying the door or mounting it to the wall is a non option.
So, /diy/, how should I go about starting this project? What kind of things will I need? What are some good free programs I can use to make rough designs? etc.
how does the doorframe/bolt part of the lock work? It might be easier to unlock the door that way than by unlocking and twisting the knob. You know, like how one can unlock a stupidly installed door with a credit card or something.
>>917563
I don't have access to the doors right now, but I've tried unlocking them with a credit card and it didn't work. Considering the high rate of theft among people who don't lock their doors, I'm assuming the university has installed doors that are a bit harder to unlock with cheap tricks than your average dorm room door.
>>917573
>I've tried unlocking them with a credit card and it didn't work.
did you try from the inside though? also using a hook or L of sheet metal? really the test for this is whether or not you can shut the door while it's locked.
You could go full retard and replace all the locks with electro magnets with current shutting off when you push the button on your phone.Make sure you set it up with the rpi so that if anything fails they unlock, otherwise you'll be fuggged