[Noisebridge-discuss] Fwd: Meeting today: bring your clipper card - Seeding the access control file with members and users

[Henner Zeller]

[ Version without pictures on NB discuss ]

Hi,
TL;DR: Gate RFID works; upstairs soon. Bring your 13.56Mhz RFID device
today (older Clipper cards, some keyfobs) to be added to the initial
seed of access file.

The gate downstairs works with PIN-codes again (can use the old gate
pin file) and also with RFID (with some RFID reader somewhat
temporarily mounted in the pocket of the outside phone - I'll 3D print
a nice cover for that).

The upper door is prepared (outside RFID reader and electric strike),
but couldn't be connected yet due to lack of serial lines on the RPi.
I'll fix that with some USB2Serial converters (And yes, I do _not_ use
#@*& FTDI). Then replace that with Torries' gpio-tty
https://github.com/phrobo/gpiotty (nice, it can do RX now, I didn't know).
I think I'll get upstairs running on the weekend.

The work on the case for the access control machinery is coming along
(right now, it is in a Tupper-box on the shelf, but Rubin has a nice
metal case to put that in) - I'll mount that on the coming weekend.

Software that manages the terminals has been work by Pavel, Casey and
me and is taking shape. It can deal with reading the legacy gate pin
door codes and can manage one or more RFID devices per person.

There is a quick way to add new users for the day or as permanent
visitors via a terminal inside the space with some LCD display -
adding new users will be a breeze and much less involved than it was
in the past; one building-block towards a welcoming community.
Other things that used to be tedious can now be simplified, e.g.
creating a temporary pin to hand out for people attending a class.

The LCD terminal still needs some case (right now a bunch of wild
wires) but I'll bring it today so that we can add some users.

(There is a caveat: not all RFID readers are created equal - some seem
to have trouble reading perfectly good cards - so don't be
disappointed if your card doesn't work. I think I'll order a bunch of
keyfobs.
I got these readers cheap from eBay, maybe I need board design an RFID
board to make these proper. Also probably adding support for 125kHz
cards)

-h