Key safe project

[Koala]

I thought I'd share a bit about a project I'm working on to help my loving girlfriend manage the keys. We live in different homes and I travel quite a bit which makes keeping track of keys a bit of a chore. My initial foray into helping this was to build up an internet accessible lock box that she can open from wherever she's at. The deficiencies here are that it's fairly hackable if I wanted to as the relay used doesn't offer a secure connection. If one wanted to sniff the network traffic then the password is in plain text. Also, the lock box is rather bulky and not transportable.

Version 2.0 will be vastly more sophisticated and scalable. I'm basing it on the raspberry pi line of project computers. While I'm a few months away from completion, my intent is to share this project so that others can make their own.

Some of my desired goals include:

Secure data access
Automatic lock on key insertion using an optical switch and a pin through the hole in the key.
Web interface
Key release functions (Instant, timer, and a delayed override function which can be canceled.)
Multiple lock boxes can be set to primary/secondary mode where multiple secondaries can connect to the primary via VPN allowing the key holder to control all of them through one interface.
Selectable mail/text notifications of key insertion/release/override request/online status/cover removal.
Additional control via email/text.
Historical calendar to track frequency of key releases and override requests.
Close to the size of a pack of cigarettes.
Wifi enabled with short range and long range options. (internal or external antenna)


So far, the mechanicals are pretty simple. It's getting my head back into programming and learning two new to me programming languages that is my real delay.

I do have quite a few other things going on so progress will be slow. Would love to hear thoughts about other features to include.

[TwistedMister]

Would love to hear thoughts about other features to include.

Sounds like you've pretty well got it covered.

[wolf513]

Raspberry Pi is pretty overkill and has high power requirements. Have you considered an Arduino based system? Maybe an RFDuino? http://www.rfduino.com/product/rfduino- ... index.html

Or even:
https://www.crowdsupply.com/pinoccio/me ... or-network

[zorglub]

The raspberry PI would indeed be overkill for just managing lock actuators and, say, a keypad, but things like web interface and VPN functionality are beyond a microcontroller's (e.g. Arduino) capabilities.

[Koala]

Agreed. An Arduino was part of the first go around but limits the range of usefulness. One of the intents is to allow a key safe module to travel, connect through a personal hot spot to the primary via VPN, and allow key control and monitoring from any web browser. Power requirements aren't really a concern for my application.

That said, your question did cause me to think of Sleepy Pi and I'll look into possibly adding that functionality since I have quite a few micro boards that may work for power savings. That's not high on my task list though.

[Aarkey]

That all sounds VERY interesting, and also quite a bit over my head

I'm glad to know that people in the community are working on projects like this - it gives me a real hope for the future. I'm a very regular yogi, and though I've played tennis, golf and even ridden a bike around 20 miles regularly while locked... yoga is just not compatible for life in chastity. So, having something that can be remotely opened and closed with monitored time of unlock is definitely something that I have an interest in.

[wolf513]

This is why the Pinoccio I linked to looks really interesting. You could probably even integrate the "Field Scout" right into a belt, so you could detect if the belt itself was open or locked. Integrating it into a ball-trap device would probably be more difficult, though.