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Welcome to the documentation page for the SHED Makerspace Access Control System.

This website is dedicated to documenting the Access Control System our shop has developed, to make managing our shop and resources easier and safer.

This project is open-source, and source content can be found on the SHED makerspace GitHub page.

Executive Summary

The SHED Access Control System, shortened to ACS, is a solution developed to manage access to equipment in the RIT SHED Makerspace. The system manages training content for equipment, grants access to equipment based on these trainings, and gathers statistics on makerspace usage. The system also provides many secondary tools for managing the shop, such as inventory control, event scheduling, and machine maintenance logging. The ACS system is comprised of 2 main parts;

The website is used by staff to manage users as well as maintain the shops with resources like material inventory, maintenance logs, and usage statistics. For students, this is where training content can be found, including sign-ups for workshops and events. They can also use the website to check on the availability of equipment before coming into the shop, or check the store's inventory for materials for their projects.

The hardware is what allows our system to control access to machines. Each piece of equipment is fitted with a custom card reader, that communicates to the website over WiFi or ethernet. It will verify users against the website's records when a card is inserted, and report statistics such as session length periodically to the website. The reader has a modular interface allowing different styles of switches to be attached. This enables versatile approaches to interfacing with different equipment.

License

This project is licensed under the CERN-OHL-S License.