Automation system for the authorized entrance in
controlled areas using an Android application
Nikolaos Portolos, Dept. of Informatics of the Technological Educational Institute (T.E.I.) of
Athens, Greece
Abstract The main subject of this paper focuses on
the Research and Development (R&D) of an
automation system which allows authorized users
(personnel, students and guests) to enter or exit the gates
of the Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of
Athens.
To accomplish that, there will be placed Arduino
receivers stations (Beacon) at the main gates of the TEI
of Athens (Central, West and East) in order to control
the entrance and exit through them. The stations will be
connected serially to the computer of each station-
gateway and will communicate with the database on the
Foundations servers. The user identification and
validation will be accomplished using an Android
application, which communicates with the stations via
Bluetooth, using the communication protocol interface
that was designed for this thesis.
Furthermore, in this thesis will be analyzed concepts
such as Backlog management, Control Version,
Logging, etc., knowledge that is necessary for a software
engineer and the participation in a software development
team.
Keywords Automation system, Android operating
system, Arduino microprocessor, smart systems, C#,
.NET, MySQL, Backlog management, Version Control,
Logging
I. Introduction
Nowadays, the use of smart devices has become an
indispensable part of our everyday life and constitutes
the technology sector with the largest growth in recent
years. The easy access to all kinds and forms of
information is something that characterizes the modern
society, due to the wide spread of Internet, leading to
constant development of new technological trends and
applications.
At the same time, the rapid evolution of technology,
combined with extensive spread of Open Source
Software and Automation Systems, have made publicly
accessible to develop applications and devices with
notably low cost. Furthermore, many of our needs and
actions, are all automatically converted into "Smart"
electric devices (mobile, TV, etc) to our private lives or
our workplace, universities, industries, public services,
etc.
Automation systems offer convenience to our lives,
better quality of security, communication, technical
management and management of resources and energy.
The level of automation, as well as the management of
such a system vary, since it depends on several
parameters. The most important is that automation is
addressed to everyone and besides conveniences, can
offer real solutions to people who really need them, such
as people with disabilities and elderly, providing them
with an independent and functional life.
II. Purpose of research
While observing the rapid technological developments
in the field of automation systems, arises the need of
research and development of "smart" systems that will
improve our quality of life on both personal and
professional level.
The aim of this thesis is the implementation of an
integrated low cost automation system, which gives
permission to authorized users drivers to entry or exit
the gates of the TEI of Athens.
The above system consists of three subsystems:
Microcontroller Arduino which will operate as a
beacon, it will receive requests from users and
control the bars and the indicative LED lights
according to the commands received from the
administration application.
 Android Application which gives user the ability
to connect remotely via Bluetooth to the Arduino
Beacon, placed on the gates of the TEI of Athens,
and send an authorization request.
Windows Application that is installed on the
gateway computer and undertakes the management
and communication with the Foundations database
to validate users.
The main target of this system is the automated
management of the foundations gates with multiple
benefits:
Easy and safer entrance and exit from the TEI of
Athens, for both drivers and pedestrians
The number of vehicles within the premises
becomes available, which in a case of emergency,
consists a preventive safety measure
Security to avoid accidents around the gates
User statistics for better management of the vehicle
parking slots and the personnel resources
III. Architecture of the system
On the current thesis, we are going to use a
Microcontroller Arduino UNO and the necessary
peripherals to build an automation system that will be
installed at the gates of the TEI of Athens and will allow
the entry / exit to authorized users by using an Android
application for mobile devices.
The Arduino (Beacon) will be connected serially via
USB to the computer at the gates, on which will be
installed the Administration Application (BtAdmin).
BtAdmin is responsible for identifying users and
providing them with informative messages, as well as
the automated handling of the gates (indicative LED
lights, bars, etc).
Users will have to install the Android Application on
their Smartphones or Tablets and login using their
private credentials. Activating the service for the
automated authorization request, the application
activates devices Bluetooth and searches for Beacons
within range. When a reliable device is found, it
automatically connects via Bluetooth to it and sends a
message that contains users credentials. The Beacon
forwards that message to the administration application
BtAdmin, which processes the request by querying the
database in foundations servers. If the user is
successfully validated, then a command is sent to the
Beacon to raise the bars (for certain period of time),
activate the LED indicator lights, and send a message to
inform the user. Otherwise, the user is notified with a
Toast message on their smartphone and by the LED with
an appropriate indication, to prevent accidents.
The programming languages and the technologies used
to implement the system are:
The programming language used for the
development of the native Android application is
Java, as well as XML for the User Interface.
Programming the Beacon was done with the use of
the official Arduino programming language. It is
based on C/C++, it links against AVR Libc and
allows the use of any of its functions making the use
of ordinary I/O operations much easier.
The administration application (BtAdmin) was
written in C# using Visual Studio 2013.
Registered users credentials, Beacons details and
other necessary information are stored in a MySQL
database server.
IV. Communication Protocol Interface
The format of the commands that construct the packets
between the involved applications:
Message
Description: Used to transfer a message via the Beacon
Example: #MSG^This is a message$
Action Command
Description: Used to change Beacons state
Example: #CMD^5^$
User Login
Description: Used by the Android Application to send
the user authorization request
Example: #USR^username^password^$
Trace Log
Description: Used by the Arduino Beacon to trace log
messages to Administration Application
Example: #LOG^Tracing out log text$
Action with Message
Description: Used to change Beacons state and transfer
a message
Example: #INF^cmd^message$
Display State
Description: Used by the Administration Application to
get the Beacons state
Example: #STA^$
Reset Beacon
Description: Used to restart and re-initialize Beacon
Example: #RST^$
 V. Android Application
The application uses an Android Service to control
devices Bluetooth automatically search for Beacons,
connect with them and send the authorization request.
The service can stop on users demand, or else it will be
auto-terminated when the Beacon responds to the
request.

BtC consists of the following 4 Activities:

1. SplashScreen: Appears when the application is
launching
2. MainActivity: Contains the User Interface to
control the application and monitor important
messages
3. Settings: Contains the application configuration
parameters
4. DeviceList: An Activity template used to enlist
Bluetooth devices

Figure 2: BtC Settings

VI. Arduino Beacon

The Beacon receives commands either serially (from
computer) or via Bluetooth (from Android). It parses
them, validating that incoming packets are not corrupt
and valid, and then executes the requested action.
Beacons Bluetooth range is approximately 10 meters.

Figure 1: BtC MainActivity

BtC is a fully parametrical application, giving the ability

to users to configure the desired settings to get the best
of it.
Finally, BtC offers advanced logging, both on monitor
and files, in order to contribute to the development and
possible bug-fixing.
Figure 3: Arduino Beacon
 i. Hardware 3 CONNECTED
Blink
Genuino Uno (European version of Arduino) Authorization granted Aqua
Blue
Bluetooth Module HC-05
4 TRIGGERED
Mini breadboard (47 x 36.5 x 10mm)
LED - RGB Clear Common Cathode (x2) Authorization granted for a Blink
Green
defined period of time Green
Breadboard Jumper Wires (Male to Male) (x13)
Resistor 2,2k ohm (x1) 5 LOCKDOWN
Resistor 4,7k ohm (x1) Deny all authorization
Red Red
Resistor 220 ohm (x6) requests
Type-B USB 6 MANUAL OPEN
Arduino Box Manually authorize Beacon Blink
Green
to open the gate Green
ii. Circuit 7 FREE ACCESS
Accept all incoming
requests without validating Green Green
user credentials
8 LOGIN
Authorization request
- -
received

VII. Administration Application

The Administration Application (BtAdmin) uses .NET
functionality and methods to connect serially to Beacon
Figure 4: Beacons circuit #1
and communicate with it, while it queries the database in
order to validate users. BtAdmins main window
contains a monitor to trace applications messages, as
well as buttons to manually control the Beacon.
Finally, the application offers users various settings to
configure database and serial connection, as well as
advanced settings for debugging purposes.

Figure 5: Beacon's circuit #2

iii. Beacon States

State Description LED #1 LED #2
0 ERROR
Error occurred Device Blink
Red
will auto-reset Red
1 OFFLINE
Offline Beacon (not
Off Off
discoverable)
2 IDLE
Figure 6: BtAdmin's main window
Beacon is idle waiting for
Off Red
incoming connections
 VIII. MySQL Database
Figure 7: Database Schema
IX. Conclusion and Results
The conclusions drawn from this thesis enhances the
initial position in the introduction, concerning
automation systems and the multiple benefits that
provide us.
The development of a low cost but with great potential
circuit, combined with trending technologies, such as
the development of mobile applications can provide far
better security and confidence in our daily lives and
improve our quality of life by modernizing it.
The experience I gained during the research and
implementation of the above system was unique. I was
given the opportunity to design and develop three
applications that communicate with each other by
combining hardware, different operating systems and
various programming languages and technologies.
X. Similar automation systems
iBlue Smart Gate, by iBlue
The iBlue Smart Gate device enables you to easily and
securely control electric gates and garage doors from
your smartphone via a Bluetooth Smart (Bluetooth LE)
connection. Furthermore, iBlues virtual key sharing
technology allows you to regulate the movement of your
friends and family members (also employees or guests)
by providing individual access rights. The iBlue Smart
Gate device is a small black box, which is wired into the
electrical circuit panel therefore you can operate it with
your phone. The Smart Gate works with the free iBlue
Smart Key app to create keys, grant access, view activity
log and more. Share and control the access to your
garage door from a single app. The app will let you
manage multiple electrical gates at once and multiple
phones can be connected to the device at the same time.
When you approach the garage door with your car, the
application automatically pops up on the screen of your
phone for even more convenience.
Gogogate2, by Remsol
The Gogogate 2 is a simple and smart way to remotely
open, close and monitor your garage door or gate from a
Smartphone, Tablet or PC. This kit lets you close or open
your garage door using a tablet or smartphone. For added
security, the Gogogate 2 kit also features an audible
warning system and lets you grant or deny entrance to
others. Connect the Gogogate2 device to your Wi-Fi
network (2.4Ghz) and operate up to 3 garage doors or
gates from anywhere. Conveniently use the Gogogate2
remote opener from a Smartphone (iOS & Android),
Tablet, PC or Apple Watch. Synch a compatible IP
camera with the Gogogate2 system to watch real time all
your garage events and get them stored in a built-in
calendar. A triple led light will flash intermittently in
combination with a loud beep during 5 seconds before
garage door is closed remotely. Grant and deny access
to your guests on the go from your Smartphone. Limit
their access by time, location and door.
Blue Entry, by Bft
An innovative application for access automation
management with just a tap on your mobile phone or
smartphone (Android and iOS operating system).
Operation is in manual mode requiring confirmation by
the user before opening, and in automatic mode allowing
opening only by approaching the gate. Maximum
flexibility and modularity over time: Blue Entry lets you
control and nominate up to 4 different accesses,
assigning the most convenient manual/automatic
opening mode for each. Maximum control and
protection of accesses, thanks to the high data encryption
guaranteed by the Bluetooth standard and by passwords
for accessing the Bluetooth expansion card installed in
the Bft control unit.
All of the above systems use Smartphone Applications,
in order to give users the ability to replace keys or
common remote controllers. iBlue Smart Gate and Blue
Entry both use Bluetooth technology for the
communication between the user and the receiver, while
Gogogate2 uses WiFi.
The major difference between the above systems and the
automation system that was developed for this thesis, is
that the latter uses open source software and hardware.
Furthermore, it is designed for wide-range usage, like
public or private parking areas, and can adapt to central
database servers.

XI. Future scope and alternative use

Based on the above, the potentials for future
enhancements, and alternative uses of the developed
system (with appropriate modifications of course) are
unlimited.
First of all, it could be used for daily use in our personal
life, for example for the automation of a house when
approaching near it (such as automatically turn on the
lights or the garage door). It could be used to benefit
vulnerable groups in society, such as to install a traffic
light for the safe passage of disabled people.
Furthermore, another alternative use of the above system
would be to install it in businesses, both public and
private, or even for vehicle fleet management.
A major expansion of the system would be to develop
applications for iOS and Windows Phones.
Alternatively, a microcontroller Raspberry Pi could be
used for implementing the Beacon, which has a rapid
development in the field of Internet of Things (IoT) and
generally in automation systems.

XII. References
[1] el.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android
[2] el.wikipedia.org/wiki/Git_()
[3] el.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arduino
[4] stackoverflow.com
[5] www.instructables.com
[6] www.android.com
[7] developer.android.com
[8] www.arduino.cc
[9] arduino.stackexchange.com
[10] arduino-info.wikispaces.com
[11] www.codeproject.com
[12] github.com
[13] eclipse.org
[14] marketplace.eclipse.org/content/android-
development-tools-eclipse
[15] www.dotnetperls.com
[16] www.microsoft.com/net
[17] msdn.microsoft.com
[18] Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland, 2013,
Scrum
[19] iblue.eu/smart-gate
[20] www.gogogate.com
[21] www.bft-automation.com