DIY Security System

Security is a must, especially in modern times where traditional locks and keys are obsolete and unsafe, sadly due to them being so easy to unlock with the help of some simple tricks. This is where SATURN, a project by Arthav Patel and Krishit Patel comes in. SATURN is quite similar to the expensive locks that you may find in some hotels and some homes. Even though it is quite similar to the expensive locks, one thing that differentiates our project from the others is the fact that ours is much cheaper while having practically zero compromises in terms of security.

Arduino UNO

Breadboard

HC-05 Bluetooth module

RC522 RFID reader and cards

12v solenoid cabinet lock

Li-ion battery

Li-ion battery charger

12v power supply

LM2596s step-down

Jumper wires

Acrylic

Firstly we noted down all the possible features that we could include in our lock. Some of them included a fingerprint sensor, a Bluetooth module, an RFID scanner and some other features. During the designing process, we made sure that the design didn't look old school and had a modern touch to it while still being very practical. Firstly we made a simple CAD model to get to know how our model would look in real life using Fusion 360. After we thought everything was perfect, we ordered the required components from online websites and started assembling them.

We made tons of changes to the circuit to cater to our needs and to perfect it. After we were satisfied with the circuit we ran some tests and found quite a few minor issues such as the battery overheating after a few minutes of usage so we made a few changes to the battery portion of the circuit which fixed the issue. One way we organised our workflow more efficiently was by naming each component and its designated task as a portion of the circuit. for example, the battery and the charger module were linked together so we named it the power supply portion. This helped us troubleshoot the plethora of issues that we faced during the process of making this lock. Both of us were relatively new to coding so we sourced codes for individual components, RFID for example and then changed the code manually according to our tastes and requirements. This method helped us understand our code better and we learnt quite a lot about C++ and general coding.

After solving the many issues we put everything up inside the casing that was partly 3D printed and partly made by us using acrylic and some common hand tools. Finally, we made our model more aesthetic by painting it matte black.