Good Weekend - NFC, Raspberry Pi, and Arduino

It's been a slow haul getting the parts so I had a quite a bit of the code written for the system before getting the NFC cards.  This weekend was wrapping things up and moving from breadboards to prototype boards. Before this I'd done a grand total of 4 electrical solder joints so it's been a fun ride.  Actually pretty relaxing, cutting wires to fit sucks, but soldering was good.

The code was a mix of my ideas and a whole bunch of stuff from a variety of sources:

• Raspberry Pi Relay Demo - Found this to let me know I could do it using the Sainsmart board.  For some reason his actual site went up in smoke.  Fumbled thought the comments and saw a common them about using a transistor to protect the circuit so that led over here....
• Relay discussion
• Well you can't actually use the GPIO pins without some way to access.  Didn't feel like writing and compiling straight C so I went with Python and used the RPi.GPIO library
• I really can't say enough about http://learn.adafruit.com/.  It's a wonderful way to learn both Arduino and Raspberry Pi.

I've got it up and running now so more code and description tomorrow.  I will leave on this note. Hot glue is a great connector, but it sucks to work with and smooth out.  Next time on the coverplate I'll just join using superglue to start or maybe the plastic putty that is thicker.  Not happy enough with the current look.

After a long Hiatus - Arduino, Raspberry Pi, NFC

I'm working on developing a mobile NFC based time and signature application collection system at work.  We are also moving to a new building and I am starting to get a key ring like a high school janitor.  It's big enough so the only thing I'm missing is the zip chain to hang on my belt.

Since you can see from the 2 years between posts I need a hobby project.  I decided I wanted to build an NFC locking system.  Here are the components I settled on:

• Arduino Uno - This will handle the NFC reading and be present at the door.  After I worked on it I determined that an Arduino was needed at the door just to prevent simple shorting hacking issues
• Raspberry Pi - OK, the thought of a $35 PC was just too good to pass up.  This is the logging tool, card adding tool, and unlock relay controller.
• Sainsmart 4 channel relay board - This will handle the temporary lock and unlock process on the Fail Secure electronic strikes
• Adafruit NFC shield - Was going to use a different option, but it got lost in shipping from Hong Kong and this is pretty easy.  Only complaint is that is't a bit too large to fit in a single gang electrical box so I need to hack a box and coverplate together.
• Stack of other stuff - LEDs, transistors, resistors, perma-proto boards

I've got the thing built, but now it's final components and debugging.  Code, pictures, and details coming.