I have been looking at alternatives for entry-access mechanisms. Some things to be looked into include:
- NFC (Near Field Communications)
- Arduino NFC Shield features a transceiver module, PN532, which handles wireless communication at 13.56MHz, this means that you can read and write a 13.56MHz tag with this shield or implement point to point (P2P) data exchange between the shield and a smart phone. There is an NFC Library using PN532 to read/write card and communicate with android.
- Tutorial for NFC Shield and NFC Module from ElecFreaks.
Also similar to the topic is the controls behind the scenes. It is possibly to turn an Arduino into a PLC, complete with PLC style enclosures and PLC style software:
- CONTROLLINO was the first ARDUINO compatible software open-soure PLC (programmable logic controller) and is the market leader in its field. Programming software for the solution.
- Industrial Shields
- industruino prototyping kit
- Hartmut Wendt DIN rail enclosure: ArduiBox Open for Arduino Uno, 101, Zero
- plcLib: PLC Software for the Arduino
ModBerry, a Raspberry Pi based controller, but being Linux based, not quite so deterministic as an Arduino based product.
Automation Direct: not really open source, but lots of automation stuff.
Other interesting bits:
- LoRa mini long distance wireless rx/tx. Along with this low power scenario, there are solar cells and Lithium Ion Polymer batteries, and charger.
- DMX Shields. Some additional info on DMX512 as an Arduino shield.
- DMX 512 Opto Isolated Arduino shield. Lots of other interesting projects at this site.
- MegaMoto Motor Control Shield for Arduino -- 30A of current at up to 28V in two half bridge or one full bridge.
- Grid-Eye 8x8 IR Array
2017/10/26: LORA Chat Box from Hack-A-Day - Decentralised LoRa based Chat firmware for ESP32 boards by Heltec (and clones)