Arduino RFID Security Access

A setup like this is written up in detail in the book 'RFID toys' by Amal Graafstra. Using this same rfid reader, maybe even an Arduino, or maybe it was one of the other projects in the book that used an Arduino. The disadvantage of this setup is that you need power at the door, unless you want to replace the batteries on your door every couple of weeks. I still want to make something like this but for a hidden door - I've got an rfid chip implanted in my hand and I want to be able to unlock a hidden cabinet by waving my hand in front of it :)

It's much easier to debug and get it to work using a software serial library like newsoftserial, as (in the article) you cannot use the serial port at the same time as the usb serial (it is handy to have a serial session to the device for debug printouts and the like).<p><a href="http://arduiniana.org/libraries/newsoftserial/" rel="nofollow">http://arduiniana.org/libraries/newsoftserial/</a>

I got really excited about this, so I immediately went to my local Radio Shack and picked this up. Sadly, my hopes of reading my work ID, passport, and store purchases were dashed when I saw the reader only works with the EM4100 family of RFIDs. I'm not sure what that means other than it won't ready anything I've stuck next to it other than the two supplied RFID tags.