Open Source Physical Security Systems?

Scott Hutton asks: "I'm shopping around for door access systems (e.g., CardKey) that can be managed from a Unix system, and preferably uses RF-based keys (rather than mag stripes). Obviously, something that is managed from a serial port is fine. What are folks using out there that doesn't require maintenance from a Windows System?"

iButton

[jfunk]

I'm part of a physical security project at my company. We are a Linux company, and would also prefer an open source solution, whether we write it ourselves or not.

We've been playing with Dallas Semiconductor's TINI boards, which are small, cheap, Java microcontrollers intended for use with their iButtons [ibutton.com]. Well, it's more than playing, we have 100 of them on order...

The controllers have many communication options, including Ethernet, EIA-232, CAN, and one-wire protocols. They're extremely cool, and they have a UNIX-like shell, Slush, which makes development fairly easy.

It looks like a very good solution, and if the software is open, we could collaborate.

Plus, it might be fun to use the TINIs for their intended purpose for a change :-)*

smart cards.

[Zurk]

most smart card readers can easily be read from unix systems..just find a smart card solution from the hundreds of vendors out there which will provide what you need. most of them interface as parallel port devices anyway.

No I don't work for them.

[billcopc]

I know this sounds stupid, but wouldn't good old "Oh my god this website sucks" X10.com have something that can do that ? Else they would certainly be more than willing to design something custom-made for a price. Their devices are easy to control through a whole bunch of scripting languages (and of course real development languages too). At the least you'll end up with a bunch of "free" vcr remotes =)

Re:iButton

[ecloud]

I agree, this is the way to go. I spent part of my weekend writing some Java code for TINI to detect the state of some magnetic door switches with one-wire sensors in them. Where most security systems can only tell you that something in a "zone" got violated, I'll be able to pinpoint which door was opened or which motion sensor was tripped - and without having to run a separate set of wires to each device, because the one-wire system is a serial bus. Each device has a unique serial number.

Now as for a CardKey replacement... just use an iButton. That is a one-wire device which is embedded in an indestructible stainless steel can, like an oversized watch battery. You can carry it on a keyfob. It has a unique serial number, and you could use it to unlock a door by just pressing it against a circular "blue dot" reader. The computer reads its serial number and allows access. You could also use one-wire devices to operate electrical door strikes and such, although I haven't seen a packaged solution for this yet; it would take some hacking. pointsix.com sells one-wire relays which might be useful; you can use them to turn anything on or off from the one-wire bus. There are also smart-card like iButtons have processors in them and can run Java code via the JavaCard API.