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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.'"
Keys are a tried and tested, secure and relatively intelligent way to secure a house.
I would hate to be locked out of my house because of a power cut (battery charge doesn't last forever), or ignored because I'm drenched (and can't be recognised).
This is a solution searching for a problem.
(Having said that, electronic locks in addition to manual gives best of both worlds (like incar central locking)
liqbase
When it comes to something so fundamental and critical to a building in terms of entering and leaving (access) one criterion comes to mind as necessary. I don't see any mention in the article, I've got to assume this is considered. Does anyone know if there is code to this requirement?
My question is this: what is the behavior of a door with that kind of technology in total failure mode? What happens in a fire or some catastrophic event where the door
Is it designed to quiesce to a state whereby it behaves as an unlocked and openable door? I get nervous sometimes when I see technology used this way. (I'm pretty comfortable with the old pin/tumbler systems, and am perfectly aware they're not foolproof, nor the most convenient...)
RFID chips are just another kind of key. We've been using them on campus longer than I've been here for dorm access. We use normal metal keys for room access.
Only significant differences I can see is that the RFID chip will eventually run out of juice and die (my ID card has been going strong for over two years so far tho), and it's alot easier to "change the locks" if you lose your RFID key.
Maybe they're compensating for the lack of DRM in the MP3 format!
I do see this as an interesting idea.
I'm sure there are bugs/flaws now, but give it some time.
I personally love innovation and research.
Just imagine if all those who poo-poo'd the idea of the Internet/World Wide Web had their way.
If you "get" pointers add me as a friend (116)!
An RFID key is extremely useful to my family. My mother has really bad arthritis in her hands which makes it difficult for her sometimes to hold items like keys. My grandpa is also better off holding on to his walker instead of reaching out to keys. Though this doesn't take into consideration the fact that both are technologically inept.
Ooo man the floppy drive is broken. No wait. The computer is just upside down.
I always find these kind of things quite cool. You can store your chip in a badge or implant it in your hand (I'd personally go for this and there are pages on the web about a guy who's done it). The system can be designed to withstand notable cold/heat, and please note that nowadays' locks are unusable when it is cold/hot enough, so we're not losing functionality here.
These are the things that, one by one, will make our world look like "Deus Ex" crossed with "The 5th element", "The Matrix" and what have you. Not that those societies were any good... I'm just thinking about the tech thay used.
Now they just need to engineer real-life manga-shaped-and-*behaving* girls, and we're all set.
Global warming is a cube.
does it make a 'wooosh' sound?
What's the big deal? RFID has been used to open doors for quite some time now. To get into my dorm, all I have to do is wave my wallet at a sensor by the door.
The problem is, of course, what happens when you lose your ID card...
> An RFID key is extremely useful to my family. My mother has really
> bad arthritis in her hands which makes it difficult for her sometimes
> to hold items like keys. My grandpa is also better off holding on
> to his walker instead of reaching out to keys.
Two excellent examples. Despite my own preference for mechanical keys and locks, this example indicates that something like this can provide real value to a lot of people.
How much does it cost? Would anyone honestly pay an extra $1000 just to not have to turn a key?
This message will self-destruct in 5, 4, 3...
Well, others have probably already said it, but I will repeat. What in the world happens when you lose power? Take the New Orleans area, which many places STILL do not have power after weeks of time. No battery pack will last that long, I am sorry. So what happens when it loses all the power? Will it lock everyone inside? Will it lock everyone out? If they are locked out, that is worse then them being locked inside, especially when you look at the fact that this is aimed at the elderly! I can see the news reports already, "Elderly man freezes to death outside home because his door wouldn't open".
We were all warned a long time ago that MS products sucked, remember the Magic 8 Ball said, "Outlook not so good"
I'm away a great deal, and have need of being able to have someone pick up my post/water my plants etc, it is very convienient to drop a key off to someone so they can get in. Far more so than inviting someone round and getting there details into the locking software's database.
However I can see that once the info is in the database there could be an ability to set which of the people are allowed in, blocking priviledges to certain people at one time, and granting another. This would make the system ideal for someone like myself. Though I do see there could be some problems in the event of fire/some form of emergency in terms of getting in/out, one would hope these contigency plans would have been thought about.
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/security/77af/
2001: A space odyssey should serve as a warning to science that you never never ever put the computer in charge of the doors.
And we had been worried about some top down centralized approach to AI where some military computer took over the world. The truth will turn out more bottom up and this simple step will be how the revolution will start. Before long the knobs will be silently communicating and making plans. When the end comes, we will find ourselves locked out of our homes and business and sent off to toil in the Pella mines.
It would be just like a normal door on that front. If you want to get out, you just open it. If you want to get in, you have to unlock it.
There's no need for a failure mode or anything else. The internal knob would have a bog-standard mechanism that opens the door despite the lock. The external knob would be affected by the lock. An electronic lock still has a mechanical lock at its heart. It can unlock that mechanism by activating a solenoid, but there's no reason not to have all the usual levers in place.
We've had electronic locks with keypads for decades now. These questions have long since been answered. The only change here is that an RFID activator unit has been put in place of the keypad activator unit.
Really, I'm stunned that people are responding to this article in the way you are. How can you not know about electronic locks? How can you think these kinds of building code requirements haven't been worked out for them? This technology was around before I was born.
It saddens me to see people saying "I don't know about these newfangled gadgets" in a case like this.
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.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
obligatory:
after opening does it say: "Thank you for making a simple door very happy?"
in this age of communication i'm just not getting through
What about hackers? I mean it doesn't take an idiot to download a program off of the internet that lets them crack your doors encryption
Besides, what kind of future door doesn't sigh.
Ok, some people have expressed some very basic concerns in regards to emergency situations. I would like to point a few simple things out.
1) House locks keep people OUT not IN, which is the goal here as well. I'm sure there would be simple mechanical method of opening the door in case of emergency, like turning the same deadbolt style lock that exists now. Difference is, this has the option of being opened from the outside using some tech and a motor.
2) LOCKS KEEP EMERGENCY PERSONNEL OUT NOW. This is why we carry such things as a rabbit tool, spreaders, and the traditional set of irons (axe + halligan). We break the damn lock. No problem.
Ok, so I came up with two simple points. But they are good ones nonetheless :)
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
Doors open you!
Many people here are on about 'what if it fails'. The simple solution, it would have a MANUAL KEY OVERIDE.
Do none of you people have automatic gates on your houses? My gate has a motor to open it. I push a button and WOW it opens, it has so happened that the power and backup power was out due to lightning strike once. I opened the little gate in the big gate, stepped inside, unlocked the motor housing, then pulled the gate open. This has only ever happened once, so given that I use it everyday, getting wet to open a gate manually once every 10 years due to power failure is not a big price to pay.
Now as I said this is for big gate with two keys. For a front door it would be one normal key if anything went wrong. Added to that surely a family friend of neighbor would have a spare copy incase you did not have any on you.
but i'd rather have one that sighed contentedly or made the Star Trek Sound®
So the answer to the original question is, "Everyone!"
... but I wouldn't trust a car with a Start button.
Ignore this signature. By order.
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.
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...
Maybe we DID take the blue pill. You wouldn't remember anyway.