'Secret Knock' Door Lock defends home from rhythmically-impaired perps (video)
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted November 4th 2009 8:14PM
posted November 4th 2009 8:14PM
The Arduino board has been the engine of many wild and wacky projects over the years, from bakery tweeting to various musical instruments. For its next trick, our man Steve Hoefer has taken his microcontroller and, along with a piezoelectric speaker, a gear reduction motor, and some PVC pipe, programmed it to listen for a preset sequence of knocks -- a secret knock, if you will -- and unlock the deadbolt upon hearing the right combination. Although this might not be the security system you want to put in place for your home, this definitely looks like a fun weekend project. Check out the read link for instructions and schematics, but not before you see the video of the thing in action. It's after the break.
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Maybe to keep them IN the bedroom...
sadly ur neighbor will hear it so its best if theres a voice recognition so no one can ever immitate u.
even still, voice recording? I think probably the biometric scanner would be best bet, although that would mean whoever really wants in is going to slice off an appendage...bummer.
If my neighbor heard me knocking on my door, they'd think that I had guests, not that I was unlocking my door with a secret knock....
Just don't tell your goddam neighbors.
Intersperse decoy knocks on the other side of the door maybe?
Say I run to the 7-11 without my key. I come back, and it has fallen off because it's held on with SUCTION CUPS!
What then?
I suppose you could make a variant that screws in...
"Open, sez me!"
So white guys and Jews* won't be able to open doors with these locks on them??
*South Park reference, don't get offended.
id set it to the knock pee wee does on Francis Bucktons door.
I'd program it to the beat of "match in the gas-tank, boom boom." no one would guess that in a Million years!
Wow Arduino's are actually cool. I always thought they were only cheap things schools used.
Pretty awesome stuff, and and aside from the DIY looks, seems pretty polished and working flawlessly ! Kudos, you sir.
This said, as a sidenote, why why why why can't people say piezo correctly ? Peh-eezio ? Really man ? :P
that is very cool. like very much.
let's just hope he doesn't come home one of these and forgets his secret knock by some odd chance.
Genius!
I should try something simple like the drum solo to "Stairway To Heaven".
Nice work! I can see this being useful in contained environments. E.g. when we had a computer room setup this would have been ideal. It was in a long hall and the door had a key lock on it. But if we had this it'd be so much cooler.
This is brilliant - I am now about to purchase the Arduino mega due to this guy's genius.
I have previously built MIDI gloves using the I2C bus and a philips microcontroller: midair.info (apologies for the splash video) and this has inspired me to do more work and come up with more ideas
I think this could be a great idea but not like how its being use to unlock the door. I have no problem unlocking my door with my key but locking the deadbolt with my key is a different story all together if i could just shut my door and do a knock to lock it instead of have to lock it with me key now thats a different story all together.