Milwaukee Makerspace - Conceive, Collaborate, Create

The access control system is ready for installation tomorrow! All three circuit boards, and the RFID admin circuit are now housed in enclosures. The exterior unit enclosure is no longer pretty after a mauling by a jigsaw, but I did the best I could.

This video is a quick walk-thru of the basic design and operation of the access control system I've been working on for Milwaukee Makerspace and Bucketworks. The code on the server side is still in a bit of flux. As soon as I have it polished off I'll post all the code and schematics.

UPDATE: Oy! There was no noise. Or at least......

Ever since I read Ken Maxon's article: 'A Real-time Laser Range Finding Vision System', I've wanted to experiment with a similar system. This past Sunday afternoon, I finally got around to it. I don't have any CLPD chops, so I used a regular computer. Above you can see my initial rough results. The line laser registers lower in the image field for the block than for the background. The software properly converted that lower registration to a distance of about 26.5 inches.
 

I had some more time to futz with the Access Control devices that TomG donated to the makerspace. I now have the LCD, keyboard and buzzer under control. The last big thing to tackle is the RFID card reader, but I don't actually have an RFID card at the moment. After that I'll work on an indoor unit to talk to this unit, check in with a central security db and run the door strike.

Below is the little game I programmed to demonstrate control of these peripherals.

So TomG brought home a pretty sweet little haul from his recycling business last week. Some seven exterior access control units that featured a keypad, 2x16 LCD, an RFID reader,  and RS-232 link to talk to an interior unit that runs the door strike or whatever. One even had a track 1 magstripe reader! (The others have a slot but no reader).

Woo! After only a day the one of the sprouts has made a right turn towards the LEDs!!! You can see one sprig is still going towards the window still. It will be interesting to see if it turns as well.

Carrie's drop watering scheme, which is a few days old, may have helped as well.  Its an old flower holder/feeder. She worries that part of the problem may have been dryness from the hand watering we had been doing.

Well, my lettuce sprouts are dying. Of the four that spouted only one is left and is growing... straight towards the window. So, either the led modules are not putting out enough light or the light is the wrong color. To address this I designed a new module with almost double the LED density. The board will have 28 ultra bright blues in addition to 30 ultra bright reds. The chains have been reorganized into 6 in a row for red and 4 in a row for blue with an increased supply voltage of 15 volts. That reduces my future battery supply options, but to heck with it. I want growing lettuce!

I got my softpower circuit to work finally. After numerous attempts and configurations using only a single N and single P channel I wound using two N-Channel FETs and one P-Channel. That's more than I wanted, but I have the FETs already in only two chips, so, the heck with it. It works!

In very short order our lettuce has sprouted! It actually sprouted several days before we left for vacation on Dec 29th, less than 10 days after we planted.

First light for my LED modules! I've settled on all the parts and designed the PCB. The picture above shows the very first PCB module operating. 27 more of these and I'll be ready to grow lettuce. Well, I still need to buy dirt ;)