USB->Serial four channel relay board arrived on Friday and got a chance to start playing with it over the weekend.

Currently one relay is used to locking/unlocking the front door and the second for switching power to the amp which runs the Kitchen speakers. Deck amp and an extraction fan to cool the rack will most likely fill the last two.

Unit is nice and easy to control simply a case of sending the ASCII character for the command you want to the serial port.

I’m using Home Control assistant running on a Windows 7 virtual machine which allows control of Insteon, X10, serial and IP devices. Below is the interface on the PC.

For opening the door it runs this small script/program which unlocks the door then waits 5 seconds before locking the door allowing you time to open it.

And here is the interface on Android.

Other end connected to the electric strike lock. Apply 12v and the tongue moves freely.

Can read more on the install of the lock here.

RFID parts still are yet to arrive which is the final step for the lock.