A smart, modular system for managing and tracking access to shared resources
Josué A. Bouchard
CET 4370C Advanced Programming Applications
Presentation overview
Presentation overview
-
The problem
-
The solution
-
PiLock's architecture
-
Hardware and Software
-
Demo time
The shared workspace problem
-
Hard to control who uses shared items.
-
No automatic way to ensure items are returned.
-
Requires a supervisor to be present or reachable.
The Student Development Golf Cart Keys
- A log must be filled each time the golf cart is used
- The log is necessary to keep accountability and comply with Valencia College regulations
- If the supervisor is not present, there needs to be a trust that the protocol will be respected
- High pressure moments come -> Speed or protocol?
Why do we have to choose only one?
- Access control for trusted users
- Logging of every open/close event
- Accountability without needing a supervisor
Manager Web Server
- Web Interface server
- See, create, and edit the tags
- See and download the logs
- Controller API
- Validates tags from the Controller Software and creates log records
Web Interface Server
Web Interface Server
@tag_router.get("/", name="tags:index-ui")
def tag_index_ui(request: Request, session: SessionDep):
tags = get_tags(session)
return templates.TemplateResponse(
request,
name="tags/index.jinja",
context={"tags": tags},
)def get_tags(session: Session) -> Iterable[Tag]:
return session.exec(select(Tag)).all()SessionDep = Annotated[Session, Depends(_get_session_aux)]Controller API
Controller API
@app.get("/access/check")
def check_access(tag_uid: str, session: SessionDep):
maybe_tag = repository.get_tag_by_tag_uid(tag_uid, session)
is_access_granted = maybe_tag is not None
maybe_person_information = maybe_tag and maybe_tag.person_information()
access_log = repository.create_access_log(
tag_uid=tag_uid,
access_was_granted=is_access_granted,
person_information=maybe_person_information,
session=session,
)
return access_log
Manager Web Server
Data models
Controller Software
- Interfaces with with the Raspberry Pi hardware
- Calls the Controller API to validate tags
- Manages the NFC sensor and the servo
Controller Software
Hardware and Software
- Raspberry Pi 4B
- RC522 NFC sensor
- SG90 microservo
- CPython 3.13
- uv
- PiGPIOd
- Systemd
- Journald
Hardware
Software
Demo Time
Conclussion
PiLock addresses a practical problem faced in shared workspaces: ensuring that valuable resources can be accessed quickly by trusted users while still maintaining accountability
It taught me about Python web programming, how to interface with GPIO pins in a Linux environment, how Python sometimes interfaces with C++ and raw memory addresses, and integration between systems.
A smart, modular system for managing and tracking access to shared resources
Josué A. Bouchard
CET 4370C Advanced Programming Applications
References (1/4)
C. Bharatiraja, P. Chittoor, and Y. Bhargava, “An IoT based centralized smart locker using RFID technology,” in AIP Conference Proceedings, Feb. 2023, p. 20098. doi: 10.1063/5.0101139.
“How to Make Mobile Control Door Lock at Home.” [Online]. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWzBxd8Nwco
“Raspberry Pi 4 model B.” Accessed: Sept. 29, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-4-model-b/
P. Tomes, “Barcode vs. NFC Wallet Passes.” Accessed: Sept. 29, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://help.passkit.com/en/articles/12395803-barcode-vs-nfc-wallet-passes
D. Temoshok et al., “Digital Identity Guidelines,” Gaithersburg, MD, technical report NIST SP 800-63-4, Aug. 2025. doi: 10.6028/NIST.SP.800-63-4.
References (2/4)
NXP Semiconductors, “MFRC522 - Standard performance MIFARE and NTAG frontend,” Apr. 2016. [Online]. Available: https://www.nxp.com/docs/en/data-sheet/MFRC522.pdf
“20 PCS BABIQT MIFARE Classic 1K Tags S50 RFID Sticker NFC Tags Smart Mifare Tags Stickers RFID ISO 14443A 13.56 MHz Mifare MF1 Stickers Self-Adhesive Commercial Access Proximity Cards 1 inch Round : Cell Phones & Accessories.” Accessed: Nov. 20, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.amazon.com/BABIQT-Sticker-Classic-Self-Adhesive-Stickers/dp/B0BZRS35CT
“1-Pack Mi-fare Desfire EV3 NFC Cards (2K/4K/8K Options) ISO/IEC 14443A Compliant : Industrial & Scientific.” Accessed: Nov. 20, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.amazon.com/1-Pack-Mi-fare-Desfire-Cards-Options/dp/B0F2GY5TTD
“Datasheet - Raspberry Pi 4 Model B.” Accessed: Nov. 19, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://datasheets.raspberrypi.com/rpi4/raspberry-pi-4-datasheet.pdf
References (3/4)
“QCon London: Meta Used Monolithic Architecture to Ship Threads in Only Five Months.” Accessed: Sept. 30, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.infoq.com/news/2024/04/meta-threads-instagram-5-months/
G. van Rossum, J. Lehtosalo, and Ł. Langa, “PEP 484 - Type Hints.” Accessed: Nov. 21, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://peps.python.org/pep-0484/
P. PRADOS and M. Moss, “PEP 604 - Allow writing union types as X | Y.” Accessed: Nov. 21, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://peps.python.org/pep-0604/ [Online]. Available: https://docs.basedpyright.com/latest/
“FastAPI.” Accessed: Sept. 30, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://fastapi.tiangolo.com/
Astral, “uv.” [Online]. Available: https://docs.astral.sh/uv/
References (4/4)
Oloruntoba, Samuel, Walia, Anish Singh, and Kurup, Manikandan, “SOLID Design Principles Explained: Building Better Software Architecture.” Accessed: Nov. 19, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.digitalocean.com/community/conceptual-articles/s-o-l-i-d-the-first-five-principles-of-object-oriented-design
“JWTs vs. sessions: which authentication approach is right for you?.” Accessed: Sept. 30, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://stytch.com/blog/jwts-vs-sessions-which-is-right-for-you/
“JSON Web Token for Java.” Accessed: Sept. 30, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://cheatsheetseries.owasp.org/cheatsheets/JSON_Web_Token_for_Java_Cheat_Sheet.html
“Password Storage.” Accessed: Sept. 30, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://cheatsheetseries.owasp.org/cheatsheets/Password_Storage_Cheat_Sheet.html
PiLock
By Josue Bouchard
