Case Study•2021
IoT Door Unlock
Edge-to-cloud access control system with secure telemetry, fallback flows, and mobile notifications.
Raspberry PiNode.jsMQTTAWS IoTReact Native
Context & Goals
Built an access control proof-of-concept for smart offices. Gateways must securely communicate with the cloud while maintaining local authorizations during outages.
Architecture
- Edge device: Raspberry Pi running Rust/Node hybrid service managing relay control, keypad input, and local caching.
- Messaging: MQTT topics with mutual TLS; AWS IoT Core handles device registry, policies, and fleet jobs.
- Cloud services: Node.js API with DynamoDB storing credential assignments, CloudWatch metrics, and SNS push notifications.
- Mobile: React Native app for unlock requests, audit log review, and admin actions.
Wins
- Implemented rolling credential cache with AES encryption and tamper detection.
- Added OTA update pipeline with staged rollouts and health checks.
- Observability via Grafana dashboards and alerting on unusual unlock patterns.
Future work
- Add biometric reader integrations and SOC2 logging bundles.
- Support multi-site deployments with regional failover.