[TriLUG] OT: need ideas for a project that just landed in my lap

[Greg Brown]

Here's the situation: the campground that hosts one of my wireless empires
has a security gate (the kind with an arm that moves up and down).  The gate
is controlled by a garage door remote control and two hard wired buttons.
Both buttons are broken and the owner can't tear up the road to put down new
wires for the hard wired buttons.

They want a web-based "button" they can press to raise the gate.  I have NO
EARTHLY IDEA where to start with this.  The good news is I have wireless in
place and a Linux server doing light duty.  The only thing I can think that
would work would be to put a Linux box of some kid (hopefully lightweight,
an OpenWRT(ish) kind of thing) out in the gate house attached to whatever
the broken wire was attached to.  Then when someone presses the "I'm here
dammit, raise the gate" button they could web over to that device and press
a button on a web page that would set power to a serial connection that
would complete the circuit on the gate controller that would then raise the
gate.

I have an unused Asus access point that runs OpenWRT AND has two USB ports.
I don't know anything about programming for USB.  Can I use this box and
power up a wire that would open the gate?   What about a wireless attached
soekris 4501?   It at least has a 9 pin serial connector.  Any thoughts?

Greg