online lock

[Basic]

Does anybody know if there are locks you can control online? At least see on an app that padlock is still closed

[TwistedMister]

I believe that there is a particular safe, which can somehow be connected and controlled remotely, but trying to do the same for a padlock presents some technical challenges. I don't believe that there can be an 'app' for this until such time as the hardware is created that could respond to it.

At least see on an app that padlock is still closed

I see [in my mind] an idea of how it could be done but I know of no commercially available padlock that has this capability built in. The simplest possible design for detecting open/closed state would require modification of the lock to include a [spring-loaded] switch, with a wire running from each side of the switch. Closing the shackle would close the switch, opening the shackle would open the switch.

The wires from the switch would then be connected to a device capable of connecting (perhaps via BlueTooth) to one's phone, and the device would have a circuit to send a small current to [one side of] the switch (on demand) and detect whether current was received from the other side of the switch. If current is detected then the circuit is complete, indicating that the lock is still closed. No current indicates an open circuit, indicating that the lock is open.

Actually *controlling* a padlock with this method would require significantly greater engineering and modification, with the inclusion of some sort of solenoid to actuate the locking mechanism...but I question the feasibility of creating this in a small enough design to fit in the size of lock used on the average MCD.

Other considerations would be: being able to provide sufficient power for detection and control; consideration for the event of the device running low/out of power (and a method of recharging); consideration for the wearer being out of range of the phone; consideration for the phone being off or out of range of a cell tower or Wi-Fi signal.

I'll license the patent to you if you want to work on engineering the package design

[Tom Allen]

A lock that could house the hardware and firmware and not be easily broken would probably be too large to be practical for these purposes.

[Basic]

Thank you very much both of you.
Yes, i can imagine that the lock would be too big.
As you say a online controlled safe would be a good alternative.
And yes, a patent about that would be great

[wolf513]

Quick google search for Bluetooth padlock revealed:
http://amzn.com/B00XS8G4RE
and
http://www.masterlock.com/bluetooth

Not quite what you are looking for, but not far off, either.

It would be fairly trivial to build a lock like you are asking for with some of the embedded microcontrollers that exist on the market today. You could probably fit the right SoC, micro-stepper motor, and a couple of contact switches into a padlock housing, though it would be larger than your standard padlock.

Now, all that said, the big problem is power. With Bluetooth LE, you could power the lock with relatively small batteries. That would require a bluetooth phone, or other device to connect it to the internet. If you wanted to use something like wi-fi, that drives the power requirements up substantially. There are a lot of home locks that use z-wave, which is also fairly low-power, but I don't really know much about it.