PadioLok - Potential Automated Sliding Door Lock

I have been on the lookout for any reasonable answer to automating the security of my back sliding door. Until recently, I was about to pull the plug on a Mimolite and Mag lock, and suck it up. I wasn’t thrilled about having to cut/drill into a several thousand dollar door.

However, it looks like a product is out there that is testing the market. PadioLok is coming out with a touchpad sliding door lock, and in September, won a Z-Wave alliance competition. I inquired about what their future HA plans might be and received a response from a gentleman named Bruce asking:

Sorry, I can’t give dates wrt Z-wave. No promises it will be Z-wave either. There are may options. It is one we are evaluating and looks very promising.

We need to also judge the size of the Z-wave/wireless market.
It would be helpful if you could share why you want want Z-wave/wireless capatility.
How would you want to use it?

At any rate, for anyone else that is interested, it might be worth our while to submit a Contact Us link and help them size the market :wink:

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Pretty cool, I know a lot of people in my area have townhouses with those doors that could benefit from something like that. Hopefully it stays z-wave / zigbee and not wifi. BT would be ok, maybe in a couple years when it sorts itself out.

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I agree, there could be a respectable market for this. If anyone thinks there’s reasonable and aesthetic options already out there, spend an hour Google searching for ideas. Dreams = killed.

My biggest fear if/when they dive into the HA market is that they go wifi/closed API (Ring/Dropcam/Arlo). Hopefully folks see this, or even somehow get ST involved, and reach out to the awesomeness of Zigbee/Zwave.

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Yup, unfortunately a lot new devices are doing that. It’s appealing to people who do not have a hub, but a pain for us who do.

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I’m also interested. Sliding doors can be finicky when it comes to snugging them up tight. It isn’t clear if this one addresses this.

Another thread discusses this and other sliding door devices:

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Saw this yesterday too - signed up

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So they win the zwave alliance competition, but now don’t know if they will include zwave?!?

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Caught me off guard, too. I suppose it’s a business decision, at the end of the day. I’m not familiar with the alliance’s competitions or the level involvement it would take a company/individual to compete. But from the outside looking in, it sure seems like a sunk cost in terms of time if they decided to toss the idea.

Who knows, maybe they’re just looking for that little public/potential customer nudge to get a developmental concept into production…sounds like most of the legwork by winning the competition is already done.

Thanks for sharing. Looks like a great product. Interested to see where they go from here.

Man… I’ve been looking for this all year! I finally gave up and used an open/close sensor on a sliding door bar. If the bar’s not in, the door isn’t “locked”. Cheesy but a piece of mind.

Zigbee and zwave would be great in that lock because of the lower power requirements. I can understand a want for WiFi though so they have a broader customer base. But then again… look at Schlage, Kwikset, and Yale. They make locks with zwave and they must be pretty successful because they keep updating them. Frankly I’m surprised one of those companies hasn’t made something like padiolock yet.

Kickstarter went live today

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Awesome - I’m pledged!

EDIT: Direct link to project:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bwhite/finally-2-way-keyless-lock-for-sliding-patio-doors

Just launched on kickstarter today. They have pledged that all of their locks will eventually be upgradeable to Zwave. If they hit their first stretch goal (150,000 CAD ~$116,000 US) zwave will be available right away!

Backed this project

Me Too

10char

Does anyone have a concern that this device doesn’t appear to have any way to actually lock the mechanism itself without manually activating the latch? For every situation I can imagine wanting this thing, that lack of functionality means that it is limited to being able to unlock the door remotely, but once that is done you have no way to know whether it is actually locked again. For example, if you lock the door and then simply slide the door closed but don’t activate that mechanical mechanism to engage the lock, the door is obviously not secure. If you check it via zwave and “lock” the release lever you still don’t know if it is mechanically locked or not.

I sure hope I am wrong about these assumptions, but from watching the video, it seems that the creator only cares about being able to get through the door when you are physically standing next to it. There is little logic correlation between standing next to something and doing that same thing remotely…or automatically such as every night.

My use case isn’t everyone’s in here, but I know I rarely use my sliding patio door, I will be using this for alerts(once zwave is incorporated) to Know that it’s locked. also I have no idea where my key is so the button entrance from the outside would be nice. I suppose I assumed that the lock will only report a changed state, I will contact the campaign to clarify.

I have a 3 point back swinging patio door that I can’t automate because of the lever actions, so there isn’t a back door for me that can be keypad at the moment without replacing a fairly new door.

I don’t know how many times I find a patio door unlocked. Sometimes it may be weeks before realizing it. So my primary need is to check the state periodically (nightly) to make sure this is rectified. Everything else is gravy so to speak.

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But that is kind of my fear - if you are relying on this device to tell you that it is locked, but someone just used the keypad to go through it there are several “what if” questions that one might ask.

For example, is it possible to engage the electronic “lock” but simply push the door closed so that it isn’t actually latched? If so your alerts might tell you that the door is locked, but it has been unlocked for days…or months.

It seems that this thing is really close, but it will be necessary to motorize it to actually do it correctly, then the concern mentioned already in this thread in regards to doors that need to be seated tightly is another concern entirely.

I was afraid to bring up some of these questions because a product like this might be the first step to getting one that actually works right, but I think it is important for people to know what they are getting so we don’t hear bad reviews based solely on misunderstandings of what it is supposed to do and who it is for.

We will see what they say, but my Assumption is that it will report the proper State of the lock, not whether the pin outside is engaged/disengaged. Futher it’s my Assumption that the pin only engages for a few seconds at a time.

But Alas, We will probably have an answer soon.

I also sent the creator an email asking that someone address the question on this thread, but if they post an answer on KS I will relay that info.