The project uses https://github.com/pypa/pipenv, a tool for packaging
Python projects. The requirements are read from the Pipfile and Pipfile.lock
files. In order to install the dependencies first install pipenv, then run
pipenv install. Then run pipenv shell to open a virtual environment.
For security purposes, the Arduino and the portal (and its APIs) must run on
the same local network. Currently, the arduino is programmed to connect to a
WPA2_PSK network with the SSID Attendance and KEY attendancesystem. If you
want to change this, alter the details in ReadTag/ReadTag.ino.
To host a private network easily, you can tether from 3G/4G using a phone.
The arduino requires the buzzer to be connected at pin 9 and GND. It also requires sufficient power. This can be either portable or a USB type B lead (printer cable) can be used to power it.
In order to run the portal once the arduino is connected, run python manage.py runserver [ip].
To determine the IP of the network, you can run ip addr show on Ubuntu or
equivalent its equivalent. Replace [ip] with this IP, at port 8000. In my
case this is python manage.py runserver 192.168.43.205:8000. If your IP is
different, you also need to add it to ALLOWED_HOSTS in
attendance_project/settings.py file. This is again, for security.
If you want to start fresh, delete the db.sqlite3 file and either run the server
again (and its migrations) or just copy a backup file from db_backups. I recommend
using the starting.sqlite3 file - make sure you rename it to db.sqlite3 and place
it at the correct location (ie. root of the folder attendance-arduino).
To listen to the output of the arduino, you can open the Arduino IDE and its in built Serial Monitor. UART BAUD rate is set at 9600, so make sure you listen at that rate. You may have to set the port and the device in the settings correctly so that the IDE recognises your Arduino.