I feel like this is functionality that GoToTags has with their software… i do not have a PC but i feel like this is already available with multiple readers and a spreadsheet export
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Nice project!
If you have it properly connected, that’s not a concern. Quite the opposite (see the second bullet point bellow)
But if you’re using GPIO to connect the readers, you have a few concerns there:
- You might run out of pins quickly, while using USB like OP does is more scalable
- If you connect multiple Wiegands to GPIO, there’s a change they interfere with each other (been there, done that, regretted)
- If using Wiegands: length of cable. connection into GPIO doesn’t work as you expect on a 10 meter long cable. Via USB, you have hubs easily available that solve that.
Don’t get me wrong, this is a really cool project! (and would be great to see this on the projects tab as well.)
But on this case (IF I understood what OP wants… odds are I didn’t), this would be replacing each of the readers OP already has with an arduino and a wiegand… when OP already has readers that output as Keyboard.
So this would still require OP writing some code to read each of those readers from Serial ports…
In which case, user might as well just write almost the same code, but reading their own readers that are already in place
We would only be adding extra steps to reach the point where OP already is.
I do not reccomend to anyone (since I have a tendency to fry arduinos), but my wiegand works via GPIO on an Arduino Teensy, outtputting as a keyboard, for about 2 or 3 years now without ever frying… ^^
You have some $2 modules out there that only need to connect via GPIO and they sort that for you. (seen some as shields, but since I’m also using GPIO for the Wiegand, I preferred the less “blocky” ones)
That’s the Software route.
Easiest (just like Amal’s generous offer to share their own piece of software!)
^^
Now… does that fit OP’s budged and OS? 
Pretty sure Gototags software is only $Free.95
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Do they offerr discounts?
that .95 looks salty… 
Nice shout!
Even I’ll look into that now! 
Also one more thing: the Arduino “Pro Micro” or its various knockoffs are one more 5v 8bit chip that can do this but also have USB HID (keyboard emulation) support. It’s a compact version of the Leonardo, sized like the Nano. These fit nicely in large heat shrink tubing if you want an easy enclosure.
It should be able to run the script I gave above and will still present itself as a serial port. A couple changes to the setup() and loop() functions will make it identify as a keyboard and send keypresses instead of serial data.
Amazon has some “Pro Micro” knockoffs for $8 to $12 depending on whether you buy one or three. I don’t have one handy to test with, or I’d probably have posted USB HID code instead.
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I think OP wanted keyboard wedges that also put an ID of the reader along with each RFID card number…
if so, that’s just one more “Serial.print” line in the loop function to insert that info (or the equivalent keypress emulation function). With cheap boards he could just flash a different hardcoded id to three or five or seven different boards and plug them all into different usb ports.
Also I am running Wiegand hundreds of feet over GPIO and haven’t run into problems. (If I did, I would quickly convert it to RS485). In practice you do get noise at distance, but it manifests as random spurious single bits during the day — never as read failures — which is why my code above will test to make sure we got at least 4 bits in a row before signaling a message received. (Real card swipes are minimum bursts of 26 bits, but if your reader has a numeric keypad, the key presses will come across as 4 bit messages)