Smart Visitor Entry System

A web-based entry logging system that works with Arduino hardware to track household entries. When someone unlocks and enters the house, the Arduino sends a signal over USB serial, and this system logs the timestamp and displays it on a clean dashboard.

Features

• Automatic entry logging from Arduino hardware via USB serial
• Dashboard statistics — total entries, today's count, last hour activity
• Entry log table with date & time formatting
• Date filtering — view entries from specific date ranges
• Pagination — handles large numbers of entries
• Auto-refresh — stats update every 30 seconds
• Manual test entries — test without hardware connected

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v16 or later) — Download
• Arduino connected via USB (optional — works in test mode without it)

Setup

1. Install dependencies:

   cd backend
   npm install

2. Start the server:

   npm start

3. Open the dashboard: Visit http://localhost:3000 in your browser.

Arduino Setup

Your Arduino should send the string ENTRY (followed by a newline) over serial at 9600 baud whenever an entry is detected.

Example Arduino sketch:

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  // Setup your sensor (PIR, reed switch, RFID, etc.)
}

void loop() {
  if (entryDetected()) {
    Serial.println("ENTRY");
    delay(2000); // Debounce
  }
}

The system auto-detects common Arduino ports (/dev/ttyUSB0, /dev/ttyACM0, etc.).

API Endpoints

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/api/entries?page=1&startDate=2026-01-01&endDate=2026-12-31	Fetch entries with optional filters
GET	/api/stats	Dashboard statistics
POST	/api/entries	Add a manual test entry
GET	/api/serial/status	Serial connection status

Tech Stack

• Frontend: HTML, CSS, JavaScript (vanilla)
• Backend: Node.js, Express
• Database: SQLite (via better-sqlite3)
• Serial: serialport library