Mini project: Keypad mount

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AdeV:
Ralph - Thanks, and PM anytime. I'll share what I can, but be aware that this project is off the scale when it comes to bodgery...

Anyhow, I finished it up this afternoon (excepting the weather shield) - and I will probably re-visit the power supply, I fancy using a 6v lead acid battery with constant trickle charge; that way the lock will continue to work in power outages. Then again, the key still works, so is it worth the faff?

Now, I happen to have a box lying around for this project. I bought it not long after I started planning the project.... which was a long long long time ago. In fact, here's what started it all off (click the image for a big version):

Check out that date: June 1983... I probably bought the stuff a few years after that, so 1986/87 maybe. However, one - or maybe both - ICs were not available in the Maplin catalogue, and as a result the project never got any further than an empty box......

....until now.

Cue some spectacularly awful bodgery:

The white plastic thing is a modified "Twin Keystone jack surface mount box" (available in B&Q) fitted into a milled & hand filed hole cut in the box. Two minute self-tappers hold it in place. The Arduino itself is held in place with nothing more than blind luck and a touch of brute force: The USB socket protrudes off the front of the board a little way, so a hole was drilled & filed to shape, until it was a nice tight (but sliding) fit. The board is then packed at the back with two uprights, each with a cut-out at the appropriate height. The whole lot is then just wedged in place... Awful, really really awful, I know... Finally, the cables were fettled into position, the keystone jacks clicked into place; and the servo lead poked out of another hole which was already in the box. I'd have preferred to use some kind of plug, but nothing fell to hand.

So, with the lid screwed on, all sins are hidden :headbang: The sticker covers another hole I'd cut in the box in a past life:

Finally, mount it on the door, plug in, add 6v from a wall-wart power pack I found lying around - being a 2.5amp unit it puts enough current out to run the servo without starving the Arduino. I also renamed it the "Lockuino", for obvious and corny reasons. And here it is, stuck to the door with sticky pads:

2 tasks remain: 1) Extend the power supply lead so it can be plugged in permanently; 2) make that keypad weather shield before it rains...

:med:

Divided he ad:
Very nice, very neat (once the lid's on :) )

--- Quote ---but be aware that this project is off the scale when it comes to bodgery...
--- End quote ---
I think you'll find that is more like :proj: :nrocks:

That'll be a future project for me I'm sure, but I have loads to get out of the way first!

It's about time we saw what that "door" was the end of too :lol: I'm assuming Colin owns the very dusty motor!?

Rain!!!! You trying to jinx us man!? I've just gotten used to this glorious sunshine :D (been off all day.... Basking in it :med: between the workshop and the house that is :thumbup: )

Going to wash the motor now :)

Ralph.

CrewCab:
Just loved this thread guys, I'm grinning ear to ear ........... lets be fair a key would be a lot less hassle, but obviously :proj: got in the way .......... respect :bow:

Marv's comment ......... Re: Microsoft

--- Quote from: mklotz on March 14, 2010, 05:15:23 PM ---Make up a small card with instructions for operating the keypad. Install it in the saw slot. People will think it's a feature, not a fault. (Kind of like Microsoft software.)

--- End quote ---

made me chuckle .......... though personally a bit of filler and spray paint should do fine :headbang:

Great work Chaps :nrocks:

CC

AdeV:
I must admit, financially this thing makes no sense whatsoever. I mean, here's the parts list (with approximate prices):

3"x3"x2" Aluminium block (the servo holder is made of the remains of the underside of the keypad holder) - £5
1x keypad £1.50
3x LEDs £0.50
Some salvaged wire (mostly Cat5e network cable) & electrical insulation tape : £1 say
2x network plugs £0.25
2x network sockets £0.50
1x dual surface mount network socket £2.00
1x Acrylic box £3.25 (guess)
1x high power servo £10
A bit of steel & some welding, to hold the lock off the door £free, as it happens
1x ERA cheapo Yale type lock £20
1x Arduino CPU board £25
1x PSU £5

Total outlay, about: £74

Entertainment value in making & using the thing: £priceless. :thumbup:

Things I Learned Along The Way:
- Slitting saws need to be watched like hawks at all times
- Don't crush the LED wires, it won't work
- Chinese keypads are fine, but watch those solder pads

I also had a major nostalgia moment; whilst filing one of the holes in the acrylic box, I got a whiff of the melted/cut plastic - took me straight back to school it did, and the many hours in the "CDT" (Craft, Design, Technology) labs cutting, filing and sawing acrylic sheets for various long-forgotten and long-lost school projects.

CrewCab:

--- Quote from: AdeV on March 16, 2010, 04:14:44 PM ---I also had a major nostalgia moment;
--- End quote ---

So it was all worthwhile then :headbang:

CC

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