REED project

[OMGitsRhys]

Hey guys,
Im looking to start a project

Where a REED switch monitors whether a door is open/closed,

If the door changes from an open to closed position,
an "x" second timer is triggered,
if then, the correct pin is entered using a keypad/array of PTM switches, within the TEN seconds, no action is taken

HOWEVER if the PIN is not entered within the time
The current time and DATE is saved onto flash memory?
Or onto a computer with SERIAL?


Just need advice and ideas

Thanks guys.

 

[jbeng]

The title of this thread should be "Microcontroller project", because to do what you've outlined will require one. Sensing with reed switches is simple, the rest will be particularly difficult without a micro.
Jeff

 

[OMGitsRhys]

yeaa i guessed so,
I've never even thought about attempting microcontrollers.
WAYY outta my league T think !!

 

[Sceadwian]

OMG, like jbeng said it's easier to do it with a micro controller than not. If you're old enough to come up with a project as complex as the one you're attempting you're old enough to learn basic programming and micro controllers. They're not that complicated, if you get over your fear of them.

Although expensive Parallax makes basic stamps which are used in grade school science classes to teach micro controllers. As long as you know even a little bit about computers and electronics it's really not that bad to get into them, and once you do you'll never look back. Discrete circuits are useful for many things, and at least some discrete circuits are required for micro controllers to do much that's useful, but in the end it's at least an order of magnitude easier to do it on an MCU.