ESE 111, Team 17, Scannin'

Want to be a good person to help your friends out even when not in the room? Check out Scannin' to be supportive and safe at the same time!

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Inspiration

Our inspiration came from a common situation we have run into while living in a dorm. On numerous occasions, a friend has needed something from us but we were not in our dorm and was unable to give it to them. As a result, we came up with Scannin' to allow a user to be authorized by the room owner and allow them to scan their ID, enter a password, and enter the room to get what they needed. Kickstart Video

What it does

Scannin' allows two users (the dorm/ room owner and the person who is trying to get in) to give and get access to enter a room temporarily. The room owner sets the authorized ID and a correct password. When the scanned ID and the input passcode are both correct a servo motor rotates to unlock the door.

How we built it

The main components we used include the RFID scanner, RFID tags, a membrane keypad, a servo motor, three LED indicator lights, a NodeMCU, and the Arduino Uno Board. The RFID scanner reads the ID of the tags. If the input is incorrect, the red LED lights up. If the input is correct, the green LED will light up and the code looks for a keypad input. The keypad then reads if the user enters the digits that correspond with the set password. If incorrect, the red LED lights up. If correct, the green LED lights up again and the servo motor rotates to signify a door unlocking. The NodeMCU is directly wired to the green and red LED. When a current passes through the green LED (lit up), then the NodeMCU reads high and sends a notification alerting the room owner that an authorized user has entered. When a current passes through the red LED (lit up), then the NodeMCU reads high and sends a notification alerting the room owner that an unauthorized user has attempted to get in.

Challenges we ran into

The main challenge we ran into was finding a way to get incorporate BLYNK notifications to our circuit. It took us a while to come up with what conditionals out BLYNK code would have and which signals from our circuit to read in the code. After figuring out that step, we still spent a good amount of time writing the code that would allow notifications to be seen on the user's phone. Additionally, our code initially sent 99+ notifications to BLYNK when an LED lit up. To fix this, we had to add in a time delay.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Despite being a simple and intuitive circuit design, we are proud to have figured out how to successfully send a notification depending on the inputs of the main circuit. Additionally, our circuit has been consistent in its performance.

What we learned

We learned how to utilize IoT to transfer data from hardware to devices like our phone and PC. By incorporating the BLYNK app, we were able to learn which signals and data from our hardware would be useful to read and generate a different output/ action from that information.

What's next for Scannin'

For our product, we hope to add a backup battery so that if there is a power outage, the lock system would still operate, keeping the user safe while still allowing access. Additionally, we would like to implement an interface where the room owner can easily change the passcode and ID without having to go into the actual code to change it.

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