Remote Door Lock

Camera
Full Circuit

Inspiration

We were aware that smart home technology is often intrusive and unaffordable for those with disabilities, so we wanted to create a better alternative to one of such technology.

What it does

The Remote Door Lock allows the user to see a live camera feed of their front door (or another door of choice) and remotely lock and unlock the door just with the click of a button, all from their web browser. The system is composed of a camera unit, a microcontroller that receives lock/unlock commands, and a motor attached to the door lock. The camera feed and remote control are both done over a password-protected local wireless connection, accessible by connecting from any device with WiFi and browser.

How we built it

We used ESP32 microcontroller to control a motor that opens and closes the door. We built the motor driver circuit with a L293D half-H driver and a power distribution panel to allow bidirectional movement. The ESP32 is programmed with C++ to be a WiFi access point with ESPRESSIF libraries, and allows the user to send lock/unlock commands over WiFi from a web page it serves on its IP address.

Challenges we ran into

One of the biggest challenge we ran into was trying to drive the motor in two different directions. Since we did not have a H-bridge motor controller module, we tried to build our own H-bridge circuit. When that did not work, we tried a circuit using two relays to achieve the dual direction motor drive. As of now, we are using the L293D IC motor drive to with an external power supply to achieve the dual direction motor drive. Another major challenge we ran into was getting the camera feed to stream the real time footage. We ran into a lot of connection issues with the WiFi so we switched to a local WiFi access point to get it to work.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud that we are able to get the real time camera feed working as well as getting the dual direction motor drive to work.

What we learned

We learned how to do real time camera feed streamed over the network using a local WiFi access point. We also learned about the different ICs and methods that can be used to drive a motor such as a H-Bridge circuit, circuit with two relays and the current one which uses L293D half H-Bridge IC.

What's next for Remote Door Lock

If we have more time and access to 3D printers or machining tools, we would create a connector between the motor shaft and the door lock spindle. We would also create enclosures for all the electronic components, as well as make a custom PCB to make the device compact, cheaper, and easy to handle.