A Door Lock Which Could Not Be Operated By Key

I had a great desire of learning home automation closely and practically. This project has assisted me to adopt techniques of home automation. Here in this academic project I have chosen to construct such a door lock which could not be operated by key. The hardware and the software requirements of the project are given below.

Hardware:

Raspberry pi:

It is a small sized and very inexpensive computer manufactured by raspberry foundation which could be easily attached to the other equipment by means of its slots available for pins. It is important to learnt where, what equipment need to be attached. This few pounds machine was purchased by me from an online store of hardware and computer equipment. I have used model B raspberry pi which had all of those features I needed for my project. These features included its inexpensive price, its small size, its RAM capacity that is 512 mega bites and its shape. It also has port for internet connection available and by attaching Wi-Fi device it could also be supplied with internet which in necessary for operating this device.

Internet:

Internet connection is important for this automation system for making it work. It is the life-line of the automated door lock. Suspending internet totally interrupts the functionality of this door lock as it is fully dependent upon it. The version of raspberry pi we are using has built-in Wi-Fi and that is the reason we don’t need any external device to be attached to it for purpose of supplying internet connection to it.

Internet is also mandatory on the android phone on which Blynk is installed for the purpose of closing and opening the door virtually without any manual function like using key or etc. If there would be no internet at the phone or at the lock which is mounted on the door this system would not be functional.

Uninterrupted supply of internet on linked android phone as well as door lock should be made feasible by all means for keeping this automated internet oriented door lock work properly. (Wi-Fi Based Smart Home Automation Using Raspberry Pi, 2018)

Servo:

Gears of the servo used in the project are important in context of this project. So here we are using metal gear servo. Its model number is pro MG995R. I have purchased this online and it is a tower servo. It is not very expensive and has ability of meeting the need of the project. It weight is around 1.94 oz. its length is 40.7mm, its width is around 19.7mm and its height is approximately 42.9mm. While purchasing servo its dimensions were kept in mind to made it compatible with the door lock.

Coloured LED:

Red colour LED light i.e. Light emitting diode is used in this project for the purpose of indication. I have chosen a red colour LED as it could be noticed from distance. This 3mm Light emitting diode is used to indicate that either the door is locked or not. This light would stay turned on when the lock is closed properly. If the lock is not closed properly, or left opened or opened by the owner through android phone or push button this red 3mm LED (Light Emitting Diode) will turn off. This light is used to ensure that while going out or coming on door is not left opened or not locked properly by mistake. As leaving the door unlocked will kill the purpose of mounting automated security lock.

Push button:

Push button in this project is of great importance. It the only way of opening this door with automated internet oriented door lock manually. As we know we have suspended the key operation of the door by mounting this automated door lock on it so it the only way by which owner of the house could open the door from inside without using android phone application Blynk(the bridge between door lock and the user’s mobile phone). This Light emitting diode works by virtue of resister used in the assembling. The resistance of this resister is 470 ohm which enough for this LED light.

Mounting tape:

Mounting tape is required to mount this door lock over the existing conventional lock of the door. The dual sided tape was purchased online from an online hardware shop.

3D housing:

Printed 3D housing is an easily available and inexpensive hardware, which does not play any direct role in the functionality of the automation of this internet oriented door lock, but without its use it is not feasible to use this door lock as it could not be put in the right place.as we know all doors are not same. Almost every door has different shape and size of the lock. So this printed 3D housing plays very vital role in mounting this automated internet based door lock properly on the door without making any alteration our customization to the door. It is compatibly simple to adjust the door lock by customizing the housing rather than customizing the shape of door or its genuine lock. This 3D housing is easily customizable and could be made adjustable for any shape of the door lock. The 3D printed housing I am using is customized to fit my door lock only.

Software:

Importance of software could not be ignored in the field of engineering. In completing my project I also have some mandatory software requirement. The application on which this entire project is based is known as Blynk.

Blynk:

Blynk is considered as the most compatible and easy to use application for operating systems and android phones. This application is free online application which could be directly downloaded from online application stores without investing any money. Purpose of using Blynk instead of designing any new application for making this project was to save time and money. This application has user friendly features. For using this application knowledge of any computer language other C is not mandatory so I think for beginners it is really good to use such applications rather than investing their time and money in developing any new one. Blynk is connected to its online server where all clouded data could automatically be saved. No extra money is required to avail the Blynk server. (Blynk, 2018)

Blynk provides drag and drop buttons for construing one’s own personalized interface for operating the project. I have opted to use on and off switch button feature for opening and closing of the door. It is based upon binary set up. Like 0 and 1 signal. 0 signals are recognized as off and 1 as on. (Blynk, 2018)

I believe Blynk has simplified my work and saved me a lot of time. I have downloaded it in 30 seconds from online store and it started working straight away without any further delay. (Blynk, 2018) Synchronizing hardware and software (assembling):

Importance of assembling hardware correctly and synchronizing it with software could not be ignored. I have considered few points while assembling my hardware. I chose the right of servo which is mandatory for fitting this servo to the 3D housing in such manner that it would be hidden inside it. 3D printed housing has a slot for servo so if servo is of incorrect size it could not fit. Servo is attached to the 3D housing and push button is also added to the system.

These components in place after connecting the wires glue is applied and dried. 3 mm bolts are used to attach the servo firmly to the housing. Deadbolt connector pieces are then joined by means of applying hardware glue. These all pieces are available in the kit and are easily recognizable that what piece fits into what area. Hardware glue could help to hold all of these pieces together. Let the glue dry for couple of hours and make sure that all pieces are connected on the right places. LED and push buttons are optional these are used to establish the manual control. Along with other hardware 470 ohm, 1000 ohm and 10 kilo ohm resistors and few wires are attached to complete the circuit. These wires are used as power and ground wires. To hold all Sequence of GPIO pins used should also need to relevant GPIO pin 17, GPIO pin 14 and GPIO pin 4 are engaged in this project.

Project findings:

Every project provides a chance to students to learn new things and absorb knowledge. Working on this project of manufacturing an automated door lock was full of technological explorations and helped to learn how to handle electronic equipment. I found it out during this project that it is very important to assemble the hardware really carefully for acquiring desired results, a small mistake in assembling or mishandling of hardware could lead towards the failure of the project. It was tricky to assemble the components carefully. One of the other major projects finding I could report is that my project is worthless without availability of the internet. It is fully dependent upon internet and without it the door could not be opened even by the owner of the house from outside. I have learned that raspberry pi is a really miraculous machine and it is really simple and easy to use.

All most all professional institutions and particularly in technology oriented universities academic project programs are offered for their students to inculcate and endorse professional knowledge in a practical way, as acquiring theoretical knowledge and enhancing conceptual knowledge is indeed very important but without learning its practical implication and implementation, this process of learning engineering is incomplete. Such academic projects offer practical knowledge of technology and advanced equipment. I have found this project very important, knowledge seeking and worthy for me in traits of hardware, software, assembling, computer languages and helped me to learn working with raspberry pi and Blynk software in particular. I have learnt many new things about hardware, software and assembling, while completing this project. I have learnt to handle the delicate hardware and I have also adopted techniques of making hardware working by linking it to software and applications. (Wi-Fi Based Smart Home Automation Using Raspberry Pi, 2018)

Home automation is one of the latest and most innovative technologies and it is still evolving, so to work on this project was really interesting and knowledge acquiring. Home automation has many aspects like comfort, luxury, control, vigilance and much more but I have chosen to work in the domain of security and control as I preferred designing an automated internet oriented door lock which could limit the unauthorized access by preventing manual operation of lock by key or any other thing. This door lock is very important in context of security as no one can enter the property without the permission of owner and owner will know if somebody will try to breach the lock for entering the property.

During this project I came across many small obstacles and hurdles which provided me great point of learning and enhancing my skill and knowledge. I was not able to complete this project in one trail it took me several trails of testing and trying to complete this project. Completing this project helped me to boast my confidence at my learning and my ability of designing things. I have learnt that by placing hardware at the right place and by using ready-to-use, free applications we could achieve very great targets. (Wi-Fi Based Smart Home Automation Using Raspberry Pi, 2018)

There are certain limitations of every project. If I speak about the limitations of the project than the three most important ones are “The lock I have designed here could not be mounted at all of the doors but it could fix door lock of my home’s door. By changing the housing this door lock could be customized to mount on other doors too, the door could not be opened from outside if there is not internet connection available on the android phone of the user and thirdly by means of hacking or interfering with the application any unauthorized person could also get the access of the property by opening this door lock.” (Wi-Fi Based Smart Home Automation Using Raspberry Pi, 2018)

This door lock is equally important for banks, schools, chemical laboratories, pathological laboratories, other scientific labs, homes and all of those places which need security from unauthorized invasion and intrusion. I believe that if the work would be done in order to make these automated door locks secure from hacking attacks and interference with application than this device would be of more worth.