Ever wanted to feel like one of those movie hackers from the late 90s? Yes, your basement’s full of overclocked Linux rigs and you’ve made sure all your terminal windows are set to green text on a black background, but that’s not always enough. What you need is an RFID tag that unlocks your PC when you touch the reader with your RFID card. Only then may you resume blasting away at your many keyboards in your valiant attempts to hack the mainframe.

[Luke] brings us this build, having wanted an easier way to log in quickly without foregoing basic security. Seeing as an RC522 RFID reader was already on hand, this became the basis for the project. The reader is laced up with a Sparkfun Pro Micro Arduino clone, with both devices serendipitously running on 3.3V, obviating the need for any level shifters. Code is simple, based on the existing Arduino RC522 library. Upon a successful scan of the correct tag, the Arduino acts as a HID keyboard and types the user’s password into the computer along with a carriage return, unlocking the machine. Simple!

Overall, it’s a tidy build that achieves what [Luke] set out to do. It’s something that could be readily replicated with a handful of parts and a day’s work. If you’re interested in the underlying specifics, we’ve discussed turning Arduinos into USB keyboards before.

Who doesn’t like the user interface in the movie Minority Report where [Tom Cruise] manipulates a giant computer screen by just waving his hands in front of it? [AdhamN] wanted to unlock his door with hand gestures. While it isn’t as seamless as [Tom’s] Hollywood interface, it manages to do the job. You just have to hold on to your smartphone while you gesture.

The project uses an Arduino and a servo motor to move a bolt back and forth. The gesture part requires a 1sheeld board. This is a board that interfaces to a phone and allows you to use its capabilities (in this case, the accelerometer) from your Arduino program.

The rest should be obvious. The 1sheeld reads the accelerometer data and when it sees the right gesture, it operates the servo. It would be interesting to do this with a smart watch, which would perhaps look a little less obvious.

We covered the 1sheeld board awhile back. Of course, you could also use NFC or some other sensor technology to trigger the mechanism. You can find a video that describes the 1sheeld below.

Tired of dealing with keys to get into his office, Valentin Heun hacked together this door unlocker with a laser-cutter, Arduino, and some bits n’ bobs from SparkFun.  Full design files and parts list can be found on the linked page.