I have a friend who owns an event space, and he wants to have a door that can lock and unlock by three mechanisms: remotely by a wifi hookup that is synced to an app on his phone; using a keypad; and physically with a key, just in case any systems break. At first glance that sounds to me like a thing that an Arduino could do, but I wanted to run the idea by you guys and find out. My thinking is I need a component that can interface with wifi, a component that can operate a bolt in a door lock, and a keypad. I currently have an Arduino kit, bought new in the past year, that I figure I could sacrifice to this project and buy myself a new one if what I build works.
Here are my questions:
Am I underestimating what is necessary for this project, is there anything I'm forgetting or over-looking? When dealing with the app on the phone, is there already a solution for this on the market or will I have to build the app myself?
I don't know what some of these components would be called. What should I search to shop for a wifi hookup? What would you call the motor or servo or whatever that could control the door?
What experience do you have with software, hardware and the Arduino platform?
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Not a huge amount, wasn't sure how much would be necessary for this. I can program in Java and JavaScript with decent proficiency, but the hardware end is my weak area. I've made LED diodes blink in patterns, made light sensors and heat sensors print to the software's display, that's about it.
My apologies if it wasn't enough, I tried searching for the wifi component but found a lot of results that didn't explain the differences in terminology, and all of the forum discussions I read started the conversation assuming a little more familiarity than I have. From there I started typing up my question and it came to mind that I didn't know what you call the strike plates either. The terms "servo" and "piston" came to mind and I googled them. Servo seemed kind of good but possibly more elaborate than what I need. It wasn't even in my mind to have a good on the market that was specifically to electronically control a door bolt--I figured I needed a more basic mechanism that I'd attach to a store-bought door bolt or something like that.
Anyway, the friend knows how amateurish I am at this. If the system fails to lock or unlock I think the danger is relatively low, because he'd learn of it in less than 12 hours, probably much less, and be able to use the physical key. If it locks and will not unlock, or unlocks and will not lock, then the damage is greater--possibly entailing an unaffordable lawsuit in the worst-case scenario. I'm not sure how likely these eventualities are. You're absolutely right that I should think about these things. I'll make sure that he's fully aware of the dangers.
Just look at the locks used at the main entrance of many apartment buildings. That are often electronic locks, activated by key code or NFC enabled card or something like that. That way you have the lock part settled, and you only have to worry about how (and when) to send an unlock signal.