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Magic Key

Stephen H | April 30th, 2008

The “magic key” would be a transmitting chip key that you could keep in your pocket and be able to open your front door by normally turning the handle but someone who does not have a key within 10′ or so would not be able to open the door from the outside. Similar to the chip in car keys that needs to be presant in the key for the car to start.

PROS:Imagine comming home with groceries and not having to fumble into your pocket for your keys to unlock then open your door. Or if someone is house sitting, or doing repair work for you, not having to worry about them making a copy.
CONS:Expensive to replace lost keys
OTHER:Make the lock only function this way when in a “locked” setting so you could unlock completly for parties and other occasions.

I understand that the majority of the work will be in the lock itself not in the key, this is a project im going to start looking into, hopefully ill have a post in the “stuff i’ve done” section soon.

I would like to learn more about this first, but i’ve seen similar projects around so im sure the technology exists.

Would love any feedback anyone has to offer.

*i am a radioshack employee and fully understand i am not eligible for the promotion prize.

6 COMMENTS on “Magic Key”

  1. Cris | April 30th, 2008 8:51 pm

    Yeah the guy above is right, this does exist. Especially in aftermarket car alarms!!! Some of these have add ons for your house also. IE when you leave your house, it locks your door, shuts off lights, and as you approach the vehicle, unlocks the doors, and vice versa.

  2. Hack'd | May 2nd, 2008 5:23 pm

    Id like to make one with Bluetooth, so I could use my phone as the key.

  3. Compassman | May 4th, 2008 10:20 am

    You might take a look at the book “RFID Toys”. There are plenty of projects with RFID chips. The author had one embedded into himself for the RFID locked keyboard project. Check it out.

  4. The Evil Technology | May 4th, 2008 12:22 pm

    And i want a flash memory key… it can’t be intercepted by other people, and it can be easaly copied so other people can use it too… and the best part is that you can change the code whenever you want…

  5. Tom C | July 13th, 2008 9:25 am

    Instead of a code which could be hacked you could use a fingerprint scanner which sends a code to a central database in your house and can tell if you live in the house.

  6. noah | July 28th, 2008 8:27 pm

    another problem is that u can accidentally put it on or by something that could amplify the signal therefore leaving your door unlocked

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