Today the BRONZE lock was de-commissioned from the Dim Sum Labs entryway. This comes as part of an effort where we transition from a system where we have two different physical keys to a new system where we use our MTR cards as an entry control system, and in the event of a failure or power outage, a SILVER lock as a backup.
Not so nice looking. Roached surround (not by me!)
The lock “surround ring” isn’t being used right now…hmmmmm…
Circle with black marker.
Circle entire thing with black marker (which is getting a bit tired)
The next step is to install a doorbell circuit behind the button because this rig looks like a doorbell and strangers will be confused if it doesn’t act like one.
If it doesn’t react to a press, they will most likely assume we can’t even keep a doorbell maintained, which is not a good first impression for a MakerSpace / HackerSpace / CoderSpace to give. 🙂
Here’s the doorbell circuit. It’s an old thing I had hanging around. I replaced it because the switch went bad and the wireless ones are so cheap.
(My laziness…I couldn’t be bothered to fix it so Vego just went ahead and bought a new unit for HKD78.00 / USD10.00. Of course, I got all excited installing the new unit instead of getting off my rear and buying a new momentary for HKD7.8 / USD1.00. Hahahaha. Human nature is so weird…)
Here’s the circuit in action, sans switch. Still a bit tricky.
Probably need to replace that cheap-o white wire and look for cold solder joints.
BUT it works when fired. Mostly.
Here’s the new momentary switch. Cost HKD5.00 / USD0.65
It should be plenty robust to handle the number of keypresses we expect to receive 🙂
How about giving it a try?
OK – we’ve proven it works with the momentary. The next thing to do is to work with people at DSL who can design a 3D model of the “cartridge” for the door in SketchUp
After that, we need to fab the “cartridge” using the 3D printer, which we should be able to more or less *immediately* do once the design is done – a practical example of the type of Rapid Prototyping that having a 3D printer enables.
Then we need to physically install the doorbell and mount all of the electronics in some kind of enclosure – thinking that a simple surface mount box will do nicely. Maybe we’ll print that too 🙂
Finally, we need to integrate the momentary switch closure event with our Raspberry Pi door lock controller so we have a “Smart Happy Face Door“
…stay tuned…
Graham Leach
