Locks and raspberries: a comparative study of single-board computers for access control

Abstract: Over the past decade, there has been a drastic development of the single-board computer market. These computers are now in a position where they can compete with classic embedded hardware. Such fast improvement has led ASSA ABLOY, a well-known lock and security company, to see value in replacing some of their existing access control hardware with an off-the-shelf single-board computer. Therefore, a comparative study of single-board computers was performed for this company. Some of the compared properties were price, performance (i.e. CPU, memory, USB, network, operating temperature and power consumption) and other relevant information such as operating systems, open/closed source hardware and future availability. Information and testing data from nine different computers was compiled and analyzed. This data was then used to determine the best-suited candidates that could possibly replace the current access control hardware. They were chosen in accordance to three different categories: performance, power consumption and open source hardware. The ODROID C1+, the Raspberry Pi A+ and the A20 OLinuXino Lime2 proved to be the best candidates for these three categories respectively. Furthermore, it was also concluded that the company behind a computer is just as important as the computer itself, where the best company in this study was determined to be Olimex.