Move if required- Not really ICE and there isnt a security project area...
RFID controlled central locking theory
Evening all, Ive decided im going to install RFID controlled central locking. Long Story short im new to minis and much more electrically minded than mechanically. Due to this i thought id do something i feel was achievable and "cool".
You will see me refer to "UID" alot in these posts. The UID is the Unique IDentifier. Its a Read only (mainly) code saved on every RFID it is unique to that chip and can not be changed (for the most part).
About me(boring bit)
TL;DR Im an electrical nerd and like experimenting.
Concept
While on a random youtube streak (where everyone gets their best ideas) i ran into a video showing an RFID opening a car. Thinking this was pretty awesome i did a little research and looked in the reality of making this myself. Some things i looked at included :
- Feasibility - Was it something i felt was withing my skills
- Price - Lets not beat about the bush if its gonna cost and arm and a leg its not gonna happen
- Security - Did i open myself up to any dangers
Feasibility
Well someone had already done it why couldn't i.... A few months previous to finally deciding i would go a head i was at the L2B mini run. (where i bought my mini!!!!) met a guy and his dad. He had installed what i believe was a central locking kit and had wired it so he could remotely start the engine with his fob. This meant the kits were out there.... Then i saw on the forums some talk about @A-Series Spares kits. Surprisingly hard to find any real manuals or information on the kits i looked into the generic central locking kits. Here i found schematics a plenty and decided it was something i could do....
Price
Central locking - For the central locking kit bare i was looking at £126... sounds painful however if you were to add installation it would have risen to £306.... Like im sure all you guys can agree im only a little protective and dont like the idea of other people working on my mini. Bare bones it is ill install it myself.
Control - Control wise i was sure from the start id use an arduino purely due to how cheap and easy to code they are. Let alone the huge open repository of existing code / scripts available. From looking online i roughly worked out how i would control the kit and looked at a cheap relay module from Ebay. They are a dime a dozen. Then looking for a way to read my RFID i found good reviews for Adafruits PN532 break out. Let alone they had already provided code to unlock a PC using an RFID, SCORE! Lastly i had to look for the RFID. These come in hundreds of forms. From Fobs to cards and even the extreme of hand implants!!!!! I decided on the more tame version which was in the form of a ring. Later i found out the ring has TWO RFIDS meaning i could control lock and unlock using different hand movements... Damn im sad.
Security
From what i can understand there is only two ways to make my system unlock the doors. The use of my RFID ring with its UID or by the bad guys that have scanned my RFID extracted my UID and either cloned it or emulated it.
So unless my ring is stolen ( same weakness as keys ) or my ring gets scanned and cloned ( you would have to scan it from within 1") my system is just as safe as the normal locks. Infact its safer than the key fob! That signal can be intercepted at a greater range and emulated!
In the old days of RFIDs the UID was read only and could not be changed or programmed meaning they were uncopy-able however as times changed chips were made with programmable UIDs this means cloning was possible 
.
TLDR
- Safe
- Not too expensive
- Something i could do
Edited by phillrulz, 25 July 2017 - 06:31 PM.
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