Open source deadbolt lock

He’s actually due to interview me… we met in SFO a couple months back and he said he wanted to come up to Seattle and chat… dunno if he’ll ever have time though.

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Was this before or after he finished the ATM Slot Machine? :laughing:
That whole project sure drained him.

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Not sure if this is too late to mention:

For power, it would be nice to have a interchangeable rechargeable battery that can charged with USB, similar to the Ring Doorbell. And AA batteries for backup.

Also, not sure if anyone was interested, but why not add a keypad as well, similar to the Samsung locks? At least I don’t think anyone mentioned it. As a benefit, you can use passcode as a backup (such as if not everyone in the household has a implant and uses keychains or cards, they can use passcode as alternative if they lose the key) or if you have a guest staying at your house.

You could just give them a keyfob or a card to use. It would keep the cost of producing the lock down if you forgo the keypad

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Keypads are pretty bulky and prone to failure. It’s not unreasonable to assume that down the line we could use the tag emulation capabilities of smart phones to solve this problem. You send someone one-time-use tag credentials and they wave their phone in front of the lock. No implant necessary.

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It was momentarily considered (further up the thread), however we opted for standard AA batteries as the primary power cell. Electronic design could easily be adapted to accommodate rechargeable AA batteries if the user wants a rechargeable option.

The energy capacity of AA batteries is also higher than typical lithium packs. A typical AA battery is 1.5v and 2800mAh (4.2W), while a typical lithium foil pack battery is 3.7v with an amp hour rating of anything between 180mAh and 500mAh. Typically we will need at least a stable 5v or greater voltage to operate certain components and the mechanics, so if we bank four AA batteries together in series we get 6v and 2800mAh, and with two lithium packs in series we get 7.4v and only 500mAh max (3.7W).

Ultimately, putting a lithium battery pack into the design means we would then have a specific custom sized battery into the design which needs replacing every few years, and sourcing this battery pack may become an issue in the future. To do right but our customers, we would need to then take it upon ourselves to source and manage the sale of battery packs for this lock well into the future - a burden neither party wants. Furthermore, the idea of either detaching the lock from the door to charge it over night, or bringing a USB cable to the door and let it hang there for a day… there just seems like a lot of down sides, and not any actual benefit over just using standard AA batteries that are easily replaced.

The only benefit I can imagine to adding a custom lithium foil power cell to the design is that it might possibly keep the back side of the lock casing just a few millimeters thinner… but in my view that’s not enough of a benefit to warrant this design choice. I’m up for discussing it though… I mean, am I missing a clear benefit to using a rechargeable lithium pack over user replaceable AA batteries?

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Pretty much just a sake of convenience really, do you don’t have to keep buying disposable batteries. But at the same time, it may be a problem with having to remove the battery to charge it, unless you have a second battery to swap while the other is charging.

But I forgot how long alkaline batteries tend to last in a those locks, so I do understand how using rechargeable lithium polymer batteries isn’t so practical.

I think designing around the idea of supporting both alkaline and rechargable AA batteries is a good easy solution.

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Just wondering if anything has happened with this recently as I’m looking forward to using one on the door of my new apartment.
If parts are still an issue I can redesign around more commonly available ones?

It’s more about coordinating a factory to take a serious look at the drawings. So far this has been dead end after dead end.

Anyone know someone in China? Preferably someone who works in a lock making factory? I have more leads to follow up on, it’s just slow going at the moment.

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Just coming here to express more interest in the product! I’m definitely waiting to be able to buy it! :blush::raised_hands:

Unfortunately unable to help with anything but enthusiasm. :disappointed:

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Just had a chat today with a product development firm who is also interested in this project as an open source hardware design. We are waiting to hear back from some of our potential corporate partners, but failing that we may engage with a firm to help get the project in motion… which may require a kickstarter to help fund. We will see how things shake out in the next few months.

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I’m looking forwards to this lock is available for purchase😁

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WOW great stuff.!!! Very interested!

Would A.D.A. Compliance be a factor in this project?.

Samsungs locks have a heat sensor so the door unlocks
automatically in the event of a fire.

What’s the legality of copying Samsungs firmware cause alot of the locks tricks are going to be software related and it would save time and money to just modify a version of their firmware.

In order to program and update the locks firmware or just to service it, it’s going to need a Port of some sort.

Sorry for the early morning rambling, I couldn’t sleep :100::call_me_hand:

We can add a USB-C port on the interior face of the lock, or at the very least leave a JTAG/SWD interface available if you open up the lock.

I’ll have to look into the documentation for the chips we’re planning to use, but it may be possible to update the firmware OTA using Bluetooth. You could potentially authenticate with the VivoKey app before before being able to do that.

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Aren’t USB-C ports still pretty expensive no?
Don’t get me wrong, I would love to USB-C all the things, but from what I remember they are still pricey.

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I mean, they’re infinitely more expensive than no port. You can get them for ~$2 nowadays, whereas micro-USB ports are $0.40. It’s not a big deal. The reader chip we’re going to have to leverage to enable crypto is going to be $4-$9, so it’s whatever. I wouldn’t worry about the elections BOM. The mechanical bits are going to be just as costly, if not more so.

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I suppose unless its mass market production there is no point worrying about it :grin:

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