All I Want for Christmas is a 4-Factor Biometric Lock Box

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! No, we’re not talking about the holiday season, although that certainly has its merits. What we mean is that it’s time for the final projects from [Bruce Land]’s ECE4760 class. With the giving spirit and their mothers in mind, [Adarsh], [Timon], and [Cameron] made a programmable lock box with four-factor authentication. That’s three factors more secure than your average Las Vegas hotel room safe, and with a display to boot.

Getting into this box starts with a four-digit code on a number pad. If it’s incorrect, the display will say so. Put in the right code and the system will wait four seconds for the next step, which involves three potentiometers. These are tuned to the correct value with a leeway of +/- 30. After another four-second wait, it’s on to the piezo-based knock detector, which listens for the right pattern. Finally, a fingerprint scanner makes sure that anyone who wants into this box had better plan ahead.

This project is based on Microchip’s PIC32-based Microstick II, which [Professor Land] starting teaching in 2015. It also uses an Arduino Uno to handle the fingerprint scanner. The team has marketability in mind for this project, and in the video after the break, they walk through the factory settings and user customization.

We have seen many ways to secure a lock box. How about a laser-cut combination safe or a box with a matching NFC ring?