Flash + Arduino - writing hardware drivers for RFID reader

HI guys,

A couple of people asked me whether I'd be posting videos of
a
workshop I did a few weeks ago, so I thought I'd post it to
the list.

Basically, it's a hardware driver written in AS3, which
controls an
RFID reader via and Arduino board, which can read standard
bond
Underground Oyster™ cards.

Check it out here:
http://www.proalias.com/newBlog/2008/05/06/f
lash-arduino-workshop-2/

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask on the
list.

Cheers,
Alias



I've done a blog post with a video of my presentation at the
workshop,

2008/3/6 Alias™ <aliasproalias.com>:
> Hi guys,
>
>  Just a quick note to let you know that I'm leading a
workshop with the
>  Arduino folks on physical computing wih flash and
arduino - a neat
>  microcontroller board that lets you connect switches,
sensors, motors,
>  lights - anything electronic, really - to flash.
>
>  The event page is here:
>  http://tinkerit.eventwax.com/h3-arduino--flash-workshop
>
>  "Lead by Alias Cummins and assisted by Brock
Craft, this workshop is
>  aimed at people who are comfortable with Flash, and
want to start
>  experimenting/working with Arduino, but have little or
no experience
>  of physical computing. The workshop will focus on
getting them through
>  the first few steps, which are usually the most
difficult, and give
>  them the tools and knowledge to continue learning on
their own.
>
>  First, you will quickly cover the basics of getting
your Arduino
>  connected up and writing simple programs and finally
getting Flash to
>  talk to an integrated circuit via Arduino. All the
while you will be
>  approaching this from a flash perspective, with our
primary
>  development language being ActionScript 3.
>  What do I need to bring?
>
>  - A laptop
>  NB: Prior Knowledge of electronics is not necessary to
attend this
>  workshop but you MUST have prior knowledge of Flash.
>  What we will provide
>
>  - The beginners Arduino kit which you can take away
with you after the workshop.
>  When?
>
>  April 5- 6th 2008
>  From 10am to 6pm"
>
>  Let me know if you have any questions!
>
>  Cheers,
>  Alias
>

_______________________________________________
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osflashosflash.org
http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org

Well,

That's a good question and I think a lot of people should be
asking it.

This particular implementation doesn't pose any security
risks,
because it doesn't read any of the encrypted data on the
card. This
data is behind a secret triple DES encryption algorithm,
which is
closely guarded by Phillips. The data which this works on is
only the
unique ID of the card, which is, by necessity, public and
unencrypted.
However, security through obscurity is no security, and I'm
sure that
an unscrupulous person could obtain the appropriate
encryption keys,
either by clever hacking or simple non-legal means such as
bribing the
right engineer.

Personally, I think it's important to demystify all this
technology,
as it's presented to us as being basically
"magic", and the questions
of security, privacy, and the conditioning of the general
public to
accept these technological advances and the monitoring of
their
activities without question.

For example, Barclays are currently attempting to bring in
"cashless
payments" which use a similar NFC (near field
communications)
technology for micropayments. Personally, I find this
peculiar as the
only reason this is necessary, in most cases, is because
Barclaycard/VISA/Mastercard charge a prohibitively high fee
on small
payments, making it unfeasible to use the existing
infrastructure. So
rather than just *lowering the fee* they've gone the route
of
maximising their profits by creating an entirely new
technology which,
in my opinion, is inherently insecure.

I have very little electronics and cryptography training,
yet I was
able to put this example together in a matter of days. So
imagine what
an experienced crypto hacker, or a criminal network would be
able to
do, given the scenario of mass adoption of cashless
payments? It's
certainly possible to build longer range antennas - although
it's
technically illegal, if you're a criminal anyway, why would
you care
about violating emissions/FCC regulations?

So, to give you short answers..

legal implications: no, this project is perfectly legal.
privacy/security/future totalitarian nightmare implications:
definitely yes...

Personally, I won't be getting a One Pulse card now, or any
time soon.

Cheers,
Alias



2008/5/6 Glen Pike <postmasterglenpike.co.uk>:
>
>  All your data are belonging to us...
>
>  ...does this not have legal implications that you
should also be discussing
> or is your demo making a point that this technology is
not good because
> anyone can now access an RFID tag and some can even
crack the data inside it
> given the right tools???
>
>  This is particularly worrying/interesting given that
TfL are trialling the
> One Pulse system that essentially merges a credit card
to the Oyster Card.
>
>  Discuss.
>
>  Alias™ wrote:
>
>  HI guys,
>
> A couple of people asked me whether I'd be posting
videos of a
> workshop I did a few weeks ago, so I thought I'd post
it to the list.
>
> Basically, it's a hardware driver written in AS3, which
controls an
> RFID reader via and Arduino board, which can read
standard bond
> Underground Oyster™ cards.
>
> Check it out here:
> http://www.proalias.com/newBlog/2008/05/06/f
lash-arduino-workshop-2/
>
> If you have any questions, please feel free to ask on
the list.
>
> Cheers,
> Alias
>
>
>
> I've done a blog post with a video of my presentation
at the workshop,
>
> 2008/3/6 Alias™ <aliasproalias.com>:
>
>
>  Hi guys,
>
>  Just a quick note to let you know that I'm leading a
workshop with the
>  Arduino folks on physical computing wih flash and
arduino - a neat
>  microcontroller board that lets you connect switches,
sensors, motors,
>  lights - anything electronic, really - to flash.
>
>  The event page is here:
>  http://tinkerit.eventwax.com/h3-arduino--flash-workshop
>
>  "Lead by Alias Cummins and assisted by Brock
Craft, this workshop is
>  aimed at people who are comfortable with Flash, and
want to start
>  experimenting/working with Arduino, but have little or
no experience
>  of physical computing. The workshop will focus on
getting them through
>  the first few steps, which are usually the most
difficult, and give
>  them the tools and knowledge to continue learning on
their own.
>
>  First, you will quickly cover the basics of getting
your Arduino
>  connected up and writing simple programs and finally
getting Flash to
>  talk to an integrated circuit via Arduino. All the
while you will be
>  approaching this from a flash perspective, with our
primary
>  development language being ActionScript 3.
>  What do I need to bring?
>
>  - A laptop
>  NB: Prior Knowledge of electronics is not necessary to
attend this
>  workshop but you MUST have prior knowledge of Flash.
>  What we will provide
>
>  - The beginners Arduino kit which you can take away
with you after the
> workshop.
>  When?
>
>  April 5- 6th 2008
>  From 10am to 6pm"
>
>  Let me know if you have any questions!
>
>  Cheers,
>  Alias
>
>
>  _______________________________________________
> osflash mailing list
> osflashosflash.org
> http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
>
> Glen Pike
>  01326 218440
>  www.glenpike.co.uk
> _______________________________________________
>  osflash mailing list
>  osflashosflash.org
>  http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org
>
>

_______________________________________________
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http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org

>      Thanks for your response, I assumed you were not
planning a career as
> Mayor just yet, so guessed that you were just looking
at if from an
> interesting use of technology perspective.

Heh - give it four years, we'll see where we are, maybe I
will ;)

>
>      I was pondering things surrounding the RFID
skimming element and
> although you cannot extract personal data, you could
easily link the RFID to
> a person by the use of a webcam - how easy is that in
Flash and catch them
> each time they go past.  From what I have read TfL, the
world and his wife
> are doing this anyway

Yeah, British Airways is planning to do basically that,
right?

>    ...the next step would be to ask someone like Mario
Klingemann to work
> his bitmap magic and see if he can create an image
recognition program that
> uses images from Facebook - obtained via API's to trawl
for likenesses.  You
> could then tentatively identify the person and display
their recent
> indescretions on a 20 foot high screen, etc...

Yes, although facial recognition is pretty CPU intensive -
however
flash generally can utilise whatever CPU power you throw at
it
(excepting multicore?) so I'm sure it'd be easy enough.

>      That's possibly more worrying than people hacking
my card details as
> the only thing stopping you there (apart from the
technology) is your
> adherence to Facebook's TOS

Yeah, British Airways is planning to do basically that,
right?

>      Maybe you should do it as a social experiment 

Or maybe you should? I'll happily give you the source if you
want it!

That goes for anyone, BTW. I haven't released it yet, but am
planning
to, shout me offlist if you're interested.

Alias

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osflashosflash.org
http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org

Hi Alias,

By 'hardware' driver you mean accessing you're proxy, which
has the actual
hardware driver to your serial port right?

I've done a same sort of implementation for controlling an
rca car through
flash. But I've used an usb microchip for this and a small
http
(c++/boost/asio) socket proxy. The response to the car is
awesome and I
believe it's faster than serial communication. You should
try microchip!

Mixing hardware & software like that is cool indeed,
nice stuff!

Yours, Sander


-----Original Message-----
From: osflash-bouncesosflash.org [mailto:osflash-bouncesosflash.org] On
Behalf Of AliasT
Sent: dinsdag 6 mei 2008 15:19
To: Open Source Flash Mailing List
Subject: [osflash] Flash + Arduino - writing hardware
drivers for RFID
reader

HI guys,

A couple of people asked me whether I'd be posting videos of
a workshop I
did a few weeks ago, so I thought I'd post it to the list.

Basically, it's a hardware driver written in AS3, which
controls an RFID
reader via and Arduino board, which can read standard bond
Underground
OysterT cards.

Check it out here:
http://www.proalias.com/newBlog/2008/05/06/f
lash-arduino-workshop-2/

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask on the
list.

Cheers,
Alias



I've done a blog post with a video of my presentation at the
workshop,

2008/3/6 AliasT <aliasproalias.com>:
> Hi guys,
>
>  Just a quick note to let you know that I'm leading a
workshop with 
> the  Arduino folks on physical computing wih flash and
arduino - a 
> neat  microcontroller board that lets you connect
switches, sensors, 
> motors,  lights - anything electronic, really - to
flash.
>
>  The event page is here:
>  http://tinkerit.eventwax.com/h3-arduino--flash-workshop
>
>  "Lead by Alias Cummins and assisted by Brock
Craft, this workshop is  
> aimed at people who are comfortable with Flash, and
want to start  
> experimenting/working with Arduino, but have little or
no experience  
> of physical computing. The workshop will focus on
getting them through  
> the first few steps, which are usually the most
difficult, and give  
> them the tools and knowledge to continue learning on
their own.
>
>  First, you will quickly cover the basics of getting
your Arduino  
> connected up and writing simple programs and finally
getting Flash to  
> talk to an integrated circuit via Arduino. All the
while you will be  
> approaching this from a flash perspective, with our
primary  
> development language being ActionScript 3.
>  What do I need to bring?
>
>  - A laptop
>  NB: Prior Knowledge of electronics is not necessary to
attend this  
> workshop but you MUST have prior knowledge of Flash.
>  What we will provide
>
>  - The beginners Arduino kit which you can take away
with you after the
workshop.
>  When?
>
>  April 5- 6th 2008
>  From 10am to 6pm"
>
>  Let me know if you have any questions!
>
>  Cheers,
>  Alias
>

_______________________________________________
osflash mailing list
osflashosflash.org
http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org



_______________________________________________
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osflashosflash.org
http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org

2008/5/6  <developmentwichers.nu>:
> Hi Alias,
>
>  By 'hardware' driver you mean accessing you're proxy,
which has the actual
>  hardware driver to your serial port right?

Yes, I am using a serial proxy, but the actual RFID reader
commands
are sent over a serial connection from Flash. The RFID
reader stuff is
done in hardware, but as far as the PC is concerned, it's
just a
serial port. The PC is connected to an Arduino board, which
just
relays the serial output from the FTDI chip directly to the
RFID
reader package. Technically, you don't really need an
Arduino to do
this, you could do the exact same thing with just the usb
breakout,
but Arduinos are cheap and ubiquitous, so it's easier to
work with
them.

The implementation of the RFID reader is all done in flash.
The driver
which is specific to the actual hardware plugged into the
port is
completely written in flash. Theoretically, you could plug
anything
into a usb port, attach a breakout to it, and write drivers
for it in
actionscript using serial proxy.

>  I've done a same sort of implementation for
controlling an rca car through
>  flash. But I've used an usb microchip for this and a
small http
>  (c++/boost/asio) socket proxy. The response to the car
is awesome and I
>  believe it's faster than serial communication. You
should try microchip!

Sounds quite similar - however, how does ASIO differ from
serial? I'm
interested, because the main limitation with my approach is
speed.

Serial over USB can do pretty fast speeds - what kind of
speeds are
you getting with ASIO?

>  Mixing hardware & software like that is cool
indeed, nice stuff!

Cheers!

Alias

>  -----Original Message-----
>  From: osflash-bouncesosflash.org
[mailto:osflash-bouncesosflash.org] On
>  Behalf Of AliasT
>  Sent: dinsdag 6 mei 2008 15:19
>  To: Open Source Flash Mailing List
>  Subject: [osflash] Flash + Arduino - writing hardware
drivers for RFID
>  reader
>
>  HI guys,
>
>  A couple of people asked me whether I'd be posting
videos of a workshop I
>  did a few weeks ago, so I thought I'd post it to the
list.
>
>  Basically, it's a hardware driver written in AS3,
which controls an RFID
>  reader via and Arduino board, which can read standard
bond Underground
>  OysterT cards.
>
>
>  Check it out here:
>  http://www.proalias.com/newBlog/2008/05/06/f
lash-arduino-workshop-2/
>
>  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask on
the list.
>
>  Cheers,
>  Alias
>
>
>
>  I've done a blog post with a video of my presentation
at the workshop,
>
>  2008/3/6 AliasT <aliasproalias.com>:
>
>
> > Hi guys,
>  >
>  >  Just a quick note to let you know that I'm
leading a workshop with
>  > the  Arduino folks on physical computing wih
flash and arduino - a
>  > neat  microcontroller board that lets you connect
switches, sensors,
>  > motors,  lights - anything electronic, really -
to flash.
>  >
>  >  The event page is here:
>  >  http://tinkerit.eventwax.com/h3-arduino--flash-workshop
>  >
>  >  "Lead by Alias Cummins and assisted by
Brock Craft, this workshop is
>  > aimed at people who are comfortable with Flash,
and want to start
>  > experimenting/working with Arduino, but have
little or no experience
>  > of physical computing. The workshop will focus on
getting them through
>  > the first few steps, which are usually the most
difficult, and give
>  > them the tools and knowledge to continue learning
on their own.
>  >
>  >  First, you will quickly cover the basics of
getting your Arduino
>  > connected up and writing simple programs and
finally getting Flash to
>  > talk to an integrated circuit via Arduino. All
the while you will be
>  > approaching this from a flash perspective, with
our primary
>  > development language being ActionScript 3.
>  >  What do I need to bring?
>  >
>  >  - A laptop
>  >  NB: Prior Knowledge of electronics is not
necessary to attend this
>  > workshop but you MUST have prior knowledge of
Flash.
>  >  What we will provide
>  >
>  >  - The beginners Arduino kit which you can take
away with you after the
>  workshop.
>  >  When?
>  >
>  >  April 5- 6th 2008
>  >  From 10am to 6pm"
>  >
>  >  Let me know if you have any questions!
>  >
>  >  Cheers,
>  >  Alias
>  >
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>  osflash mailing list
>  osflashosflash.org
>  http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org
>
>
>
>  _______________________________________________
>  osflash mailing list
>  osflashosflash.org
>  http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org
>

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