Proximity PC locker

J4D

removed

rolf

The transmitter is a bit big...

mesa177

J4D wroteTransmitter : Its got a microcontroller a battery a transmitting module and 2 solar panels .

Nice use of solar panels :) Can we see some schematics?

J4D

@rolf, Yeah i know, i would have made it extremely small, but the guy wanted to be able of charging it using solar power, and that box was the smallest we could find to fit the needed solar cells.

@mesa I directly drew the layout for this one, its quite small. But i will do the schematics soon and post them .

Ayman

Nice work, keep it up! :)

MSD

You mentioned that such a thing exists in the market (probably in a more compact form), where can I get it?

J4D

Thanks Ayman :)

Msd, its available at katranji in jnah .

http://ekt2.com/_files/270%20PC%20LOCK%20WIRELESS%20USB.pdf

Flakk

Nice Nice.

nuclearcat

I did same before with signal meter on bluetooth and trivial mobile phone :-)
But this hardware hack much more sweet :-)

J4D

Hardware is always sweeter :) Thanks flak !

samer

Great work as always!
I have experimented with a software solution before, using bluetooth.
My laptop has bluetooth built in and so does my phone (obviously).
There's an application called Proximity (on OS X) that allow you to execute scripts when a certain bluetooth device goes in/out of range.
The possibilities are endless, but imagine the cool things you can do if you couple it with home automation.

J4D

Thanks Samer :)

I have used this before on Ubuntu, But keeping Bluetooth on and active at all times around the PC Lead to extremely short battery life so i stopped it.

Georges

- How does the locking process goes ? Just the normal Windows lock feature ? (Windows + L key combination) ?
- The only problem with your designs and applications is the size of the devices you're building.

As for the hardware, Jad, I challenge you.

Can you build a SMALL gyroscope based device, that can be attached (Glued) to a laptop, to detect any possible physical movements of the Laptop.
The device should also send a Bluetooth signal to a software installed on the laptop with the same functionality of this device - and perhaps more features - Locking the operating system, sending notification emails, capturing pictures through webcam).

I'll write the code. You'll do the hardware work..

samer

Can you build a SMALL gyroscope based device, that can be attached (Glued) to a laptop, to detect any possible physical movements of the Laptop.

If you have access to a Mac laptop, they have a built in motion sensor. You even get access to its API and can use it without limitations. What's even more cool, it seems that some HTML5 compatible browsers (namely, Chrome) can use that sensor and allow you to tap into it using JavaScript!

J4D

But what could be someones use for it through a browser ? Why is it installed in the mac in the first place ?

@Georges, we will most definitely do that ! :)

ali-koubeissi

J4D, there was a nice presentation at arabnet about tilting the laptop and the browser updated the page accordingly. It was a small show-off for the capabilities of HTML5 using a game where a bunch of cubes would go left, right depending on the laptop tilting.

samer

But what could be someones use for it through a browser?

It makes more sense if you use it on your smartphone's browser, which will eventually support HTML5 features.

Why is it installed in the mac in the first place ?

To minimize damage on the hard disk in case the machine falls.

With a triaxial accelerometer, the system detects sudden acceleration, such as when the computer is dropped, and prepares the relatively fragile hard disk drive mechanism for impact. The system disengages the disk drive heads from the hard disk platters, preventing data loss and drive damage from a disk head crash. When the computer is stable, the drive operates normally again.

More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudden_Motion_Sensor

J4D

Impressive !

xterm

samer wroteTo minimize damage on the hard disk in case the machine falls.

Don't drink and eat apples at the same time.