Attendance Reader - Project Update

I have gotten the RFID reader to work with the Photon. Currently, the Photon reads the RFID unique identifier of a card and sends it to my server that is running a Node.js app. The server stores the timestamp that the card was scanned into a database. I then access this database using on the front end through a client-side web app using Backbone.js. I am currently working on the functionality of this front end website. It will eventually display the attendance records for all classes and allow exporting of the information to other formats.

The biggest challenge I have run into is that Mcards use a secure RFID protocol. The RFID chip in them is the MIFARE DESfire EV1 configured in Random identifier mode. This means that each time an Mcard is scanned it produces a completely random unique identifier. In order to access the actual unique identifier of the card, you need access to the encryption keys. Obviously only the university has access to these keys. Because of this, I'm going to have to build my proof of concept using the cards that came with the RFID reader. I will then pitch it as something that the university could incorporate into their classrooms if they want to, since only they have access to the encryption keys.