Design And Construction Of A Password Based Security System

INTRODUCTION
The security situation in many parts of the world today leaves much to be desired. In Nigeria particularly, the prevalence of armed robbers and other groups that constitute nuisance to the society has led to the loss of lives and properties worth millions of dollars. Many of the attacks that led to the loss have occurred in the homes or in guarded compounds and the attacks took place in spite of the existence of seemingly impregnable security gates that were designed to ward off intruders. The needs for electronically controlled gates that have superior security features to those operated manually thus exist and have been on the increase in recent times.
Many attempts have been made to design such gates with various types of security features. In the work by Shoewu and Baruwa a microprocessor was used to monitor two gates which sense the approach of a vehicle. The gates automatically open, wait for a specified time and then close. It is clear that the features of these gates do not provide adequate security since any vehicle can gain entry into the compound. A system that provides efficient gate access and an estate control to perform the job of the gate security guard is discussed in the work by Lau and Choo [4]. The main pitfall of this system is that it uses a telephone to identify visitors; the telephone can be used by anyone who approaches the gate. The development of a computer-controlled security gate system explained by Arulogun et al. allows privileged users to gain entry through a keyless door by using smart card authentication. It is true that smart cards can be stolen thus compromising the security of this system. An attacker only needs to acquire a valid smart card in order to gain entry through the door [6]. A low-cost private office access control system developed and discussed by Khan [7] permits a user with the correct password entered on a keypad to gain entry by controlling an electromagnetic door lock. The fact that passwords belonging to one individual can be learned by another without the owner’s permission is a major drawback of the system: the rogue can use the stolen password to gain entry into the system. Radio frequency identification (RFID) has been used in conjunction with microcontrollers to control gates to enable vehicles to pass through [8, 9]. Olatinwo and Shoewu [10] have described a system in which swing gates are controlled electronically using microcontrollers and infrared transmitters. This system is only required to close and open gates and has a very limited security feature. In the work done by Adewuyi et al. [11, 12] surveillance cameras are used to capture and recapture the face of the driver as well as vehicle plate numbers. These data are stored in a databank for future comparison with visitors who will only be able to gain entry into a compound through gates if the data match. The system has the disadvantage that users must have been properly documented to enable them pass through the gate.
The system that has been designed in this work uses microcontrollers and radio-frequency transmitter/receiver pair as major components. A microcontroller is programmed to decode a given sequence of keys that is entered on a keypad; the microcontroller commands a transmitter module to send out this code as signal at a given radio frequency. Upon reception of this RF signal by the receiver module, another microcontroller activates a driver circuitry to operate the gate automatically. Some advantages of the system over those described in, and include:
(i) It does not need close contact to control the gate; the control can be done from inside the car at a distance.
(ii) It operates as a stand-alone system and does not require a network provider for reception of signals.
(iii) The use of a keypad to generate the code necessary for the opening and closing of the gate enhances the security of the system since it requires very many trials by an intruder to succeed in breaking into the system.
(iv)The features of the system that are controlled by the firmware resident in the memory of the microcontrollers can be easily improved for future upgrade.

1.2 OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT
The main objective of this project is to develop an embedded system, which is used to verify and authenticate the authorized and person enter the room. This code is entered from a handheld unit. The security of the system is enhanced since the code is not easy to break and is only known to the operator.

1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROJECT
• This project provides security
• Power consumption is less
• Used commonly available components
• Project is simple and easy

1.4 APPLICATIONS OF THE PROJECT

• This simple circuit can be used at residential places to ensure better safety.
• It can be used at organizations to ensure authorized access to highly secured places.
• With a slight modification this Project can be used to control the switching of loads through password.

1.5 SCOPE OF THE PROJECT
The main component in the circuit is the controller. In this project 4×3 keypad is used to enter the password. The password which is entered is compared with the predefined password.
If the entered password is correct then the system opens the door by rotating door motor and displays the status of door on LCD. If the password is wrong then door is remain closed and displays “pwd is wrong” on LCD.

1.6 LIMITATIONS OF THE PROJECT
• It is a low range circuit, i.e. it is not possible to operate the circuit remotely.
• If you forget the password it is not possible to open the door.

1.7 PURPOSE OF THE SYSTEM
The purpose of the system is to provide a user friendly security system for organizations and homes. This system is password based and allows only authorized person to access it with a password. It also has the provision of changing the password.

1.8 PROJECT WORK ORGANISATION
The various stages involved in the development of this project have been properly put into five chapters to enhance comprehensive and concise reading. In this project thesis, the project is organized sequentially as follows:
Chapter one of this work is on the introduction to password based automatic door access control system. In this chapter, the background, significance, objective limitation and problem of password based security system were discussed.
Chapter two is on literature review of password based security system. In this chapter, all the literature pertaining to this work was reviewed.
Chapter three is on design methodology. In this chapter all the method involved during the design and construction were discussed.
Chapter four is on testing analysis. All testing that result accurate functionality was analyzed.
Chapter five is on conclusion, recommendation and references.