We’ve got a number of bridges hooked up to equipment around our makerspace in Squamish BC, Canada. They are working great. I would now like to install a bridge on an exterior door so that members can enter the building autonomously. I already have an Assa Abloy magnetic door latch fitted in the frame but I don’t yet have it hooked up to a bridge.
As I’m sure you all know, bridges are not weatherproof and it rains a lot here so I’m hesitant to put it outside, even under a small roof. Also bridges are not secure as an intruder could simply connect the two power cables together to bypass the system.
So I’m hoping to solve both the weather and the security problems at once. Is there an off the shelf weatherproof card scanner that could read the RFID card, and transmit that information to a bridge inside the building which is hooked up to the door lock? How would I connect this 3rd party scanner to the bridge? I’m not an electronics guy, but have a few members that could assist with installation.
Thank you for reaching out with your query about installing a bridge on an exterior door at your makerspace in Squamish, BC. Considering the challenges posed by the weather and security, I can offer a couple of solutions that have worked well in similar scenarios.
Splitting the Bridge: At Happylab in Vienna, we addressed a similar challenge by dividing the bridge into two parts. The part with the display and logic board is mounted outside, and the power board is kept inside. The two boards are connected via a ribbon cable, which you might need to replace with a longer one to pass through the wall. With this setup, it is no longer possible to simply bypass the bridge’s relays. Here are the parts we used, which you can likely find at a local electronics distributor:
Please note that these setups are not waterproof or vandal-proof and their suitability might depend on the specific local conditions at your site.
Mounting the Bridge Indoors: As an alternative, some of our customers have successfully mounted their bridges indoors, behind a glass pane that is accessible from outside. This could be a straightforward solution if there is a window pane next to the door.
if you have members who can assist you with setting things up, you can look at this post
FabLab Brno is using 2 of these outside, one at the main gate so members can open this gate to enter the private area and the second one is outside of the building. They have been there for at least 3 years and there was no issue with water so far.
I love the simplicity of just mounting the bridge inside the glass window! Even if I feel a bit dumb for not thinking of that myself. We have a suitable window beside our door, so I will try that. Thank you Roland.
That does look like a great solution. I will first try to mount a bridge inside the glass as suggested by Roland, but if that doesn’t work, or gives a suboptimal user experience, I will try this next. Thanks for your suggestion.
