Tecom Challenger - How to manage meals with Access Cards ?

**thomau_matthes** · 23-04-14, 05:18 PM

Hi All,

I'd like some assistance in solving the following.

I'd like to manage a meals area ensuring each person receives only one meal per meal-time. There are 3 meal times per day covering bfast, lunch dinner.

The staff have existing access cards, what i was thinking was to have a card reader and a set or lights (red&green) before entry to the meals servery area.

The criteria is to activate an output upon a valid badge ( green light) and then activate a red light if someone badges their card twice within a meal timezone ( Invalid Badge) I guess its almost like an anti-passback

Valid Badge = Green Light
Invalid Badge = Red Light

But how best to achieve this ?

The hardware i have ;

Challenger v10
4DC
4-Way Relay Card
Security Commander Lite
HID Readers
HID Access Cards

I'd greatly appreciate any assistance to point me in the right direction.

Thanks in advance.

**downunderdan** · 23-04-14, 05:38 PM

It's not 'like' anti-passback, it IS anti-passback and this is precisely when anti-passback is intended to be used.

I'm sure someone will help you with the programming but you should give some serious thought to a turnstile. I'm sure the staff won't be watching the lights whereas they will notice someone bounding over the top (or getting stopped in their tracks).

If fire egress is an issue, get one with a collapsing arm and wire that in. Easily done. Consider also any disability access requirements.

Edit: An explanation of 'anti-passback'. This is a programming option in card-based systems which prevents a person swiping and obtaining access and then 'passing back' their card to the next person who can also come in. Think about trying to prevent a schoolkid getting on a bus, flashing his bus pass to the driver and then chucking it out the window to his teenage brother who doesn't have a bus pass.

The two ways this is generally implemented are
a) entry and exit readers. A card cannot be reused on an entry reader until it has been presented to an exit reader. So you can't have multiple entries.
b) Timeouts. A card cannot be used a second time unless a time period has elapsed. This would be relevant to the above cafeteria scenario such that it could be used once in the morning, once around lunchtime and once in the evening, but not multiple times per meal.

Usually there's a combination of each e.g. 'moratorium' or midnight rollover which means that if a person forgets to swipe at an exit reader (or leaves via an unmonitored door, tailgates someone on the way out etc. they aren't prevented from coming back the next day. A good security system should not inconvenience the 'good guys'.

Hope this helps.