BAM LOGIN

Inspiration

When hearing about meetings and events for organizations I am in, I always wonder who really is showing up. An example of this are IEEE workshops and events where you must have an officer sign you in before you can participate in the event. To facilitate this, we came up with a much faster way to swipe in using your student ID or an RFID tag. This can also be used in lab environments to see beforehand who is in the lab if you need to meet with a specific person.

What it does

The BAM Login device reads a code from a card, such as a student ID, using an RFID reader. This is then transmitted to an online accessible document which can be remotely viewed by anyone with access. This data is then used to keep track of who is in the meeting or lab, and additionally alerts officers if there is an unauthorized user in the meeting/lab. This can also be used for liability issues since a log is kept which keeps track of who enters the lab and when.

How we built it

We utilized a Nano 33 IoT and a Arduino RF-ID kit to set up a RF_ID reader. Using a pinout of the IoT I matched the correct communication protocol to the pins of the reader. Next I researched example YouTube videos of people using the module and began taking code and adapting it to do what I wanted and capture the data necessary to create a log. Once I had the serial monitor outputting the data necessary I began researching ways to display the data from an IoT onto something where the data could be organized into a small but legible UI. We came across the Arduino cloud which allowed the IoT to be registered and have specific "things" and cloud variables be associated to it. Once I had the IoT and the RF-ID reader set as a thing the UID (rf specific code) as the cloud variable I began looking for how to export it. I found that using Apps Scripts was an easy way to have the data be imported into the google sheets where we then formatted the data.

Challenges we ran into

The RF-ID reader was very particular about when it wanted to work as the first YouTube videos I watched, the code they provided were not giving me outputs. After I received some outputs I realized that the IoT needed to be setup properly before there could be data transfers through Wi-Fi. This led to looking at the code to connect to the WIFI and how to save variables onto the cloud. Once the code for the RF-ID reader was fixed and saving to the cloud I needed a way to export the data not only endless lines for each scan but to have a log of people coming in and out which meant it would need to read the status of each card swipe and determine if they were already "in" or not. Once I received the first dataset onto the google sheets I realized that even though I was scanning once, the scan was reading multiple scans so I needed a way to have it read one scan and block new scans from coming in for at least 5 seconds. Once I could clearly define a scan, I updated the Apps Scripts code to output to a new sheet that would take the names in a directory that corresponded to a specific UID and save that variable to determine if that person was "in" , what time they checked in, and how many times they have checked in. These were the main challenges, the biggest challenges and most time spent was on debugging code and adjusting to get the right output or see why the code was throwing an error.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We were able to read in data from an RFID tag and transmit it into a usable online application. The connection from hardware to online software was an accomplishment we were proud of.

What we learned

We learned how to hookup and utilize an RFID reader and what its applications can be. From the opportunity, we also learned how to transmit data from the RFID reader into the Arduino cloud to then be used in an online, third-party application. Additionally, we learned how to effectively collaborate to develop the device and went through an extensive planning/development phase.

What's next for BAM LOGIN

We are planning on refining the BAM Login device design and implementing a more complex housing for it. Additionally, we plan on implementing a keypad so that users can enter in their ID code if they do not have their ID card with them to swipe. This will add another level of facilitation to applications such as IEEE meeting check-ins. Another feature we are planning on including is an LED display which will output the last check-in person, as well as an LED light which will light up red when an unknown person checks in.

Built With

• arduino
• arduinocloud
• c++
• contentservice
• dopost(e)
• javascript
• spreadsheetapp
• utilities