The Intelligent Door Handle

Poromenos writes "Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute have developed the intelligent door handle. It combines a camera, buzzer, RFID locks and various other systems inside the door, making keys obsolete. RFID chips for opening doors will offer 'added advantages for elderly or handicapped people, saving them the trouble of wielding keys or holding the door open in order to get inside the building.'"

Comments

Re:Keys are keys

[bytesmythe]

RFID enabled devices like that don't have power. They receive all the energy they need via induction from the scanning device.

ThinkGeek has one for sale..

[JFlex]

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/security/77af/

Re:Keys are keys

[bbrack]

FYI, low powered RFID devices don't need any battery, so they should last pretty much forever - the transponders are powered by induction from the scanner

MTTF on the circuit is probably in the dozens (if not the hundreds) of years

Have you ever tried to get in a dorm if/when the power happens to go out?

[I was locked once locked out of my dorm for a few hours in freezing weather when the power went out halfway through my freshman year]

Re:Things that make you go "what were they thinkin

[Lumpy]

my ibutton door knob on my back door has lasted 2 years without power so far. it has a lithium battery and only uses juice when an ibutton is touched to it for reading and when it needs to pull the tiny solenoid to allow the door handle to turn. The manula said I will not need to replace it until the red led start blinking and then I have 1 month to replace it.

If they can not make the rfid devices as good as the really old Ibutton door handles then they need to quit now.

Hurrah for the Ghost/Leech attack!

[BugMeNotUser]

If you add a man-in-the-middle to this, you get a nice way of proving SOMEBODY is standing next to the tag, even though the tag is nowhere near the door. This means I can stalk you in the supermarket while my accomplice breaks into your house.

http://eprint.iacr.org/2005/052

Re:Just a general response to people....

[Anonymous Coward]

> 1) House locks keep people OUT not IN...

Not necessarily. I recently stayed at a friend's house overnight. I woke up first and decided to go outside for a bit of fresh air. The deadbolts needed a key outside AND inside! It was the craziest thing I had ever seen. Needless to say I didn't get my fresh air. I can only imagine how many people must have died in fires just inside their own doors because of these things.

Re:My car already does this, I hate keys now

[Sandor at the Zoo]

The Prius "smart key" system is awesome. When you get close to the car, the interior lights turn on. When you touch the door handle, the door unlocks. (If you touch the driver's door handle, only the driver's door unlocks. If you touch the passenger door handle or the trunk handle, all the doors unlock.)

When you get out, close the door and push the little button on the door handle to lock the whole car.

To go, when you push the Start button to start the car, it checks to see if the key is in the interior of the car. If it is, the car starts.

You can turn the smart key system off. Then you have to actually insert the fob into the dashboard to start the car. How quaint. :-)

I absolutely love not having to take my keys out of my pocket.

I absolutely wish my house door handle were so smart.

Philip K Dick

[lonesome phreak]

This reminds me of one of his stories...I think it may have been Ubik. The scene where the main character couldn't get out of the door of his place because he owed rent, and the door refused to open, arguing with him as he dismantled it...