In the tv series “Incorporated” there was a scene in one of the episodes where the main character flips a couple switches on a floor hatch (but only certain switches) and it unlocks. I’m wondering if anyone can give me any help on the reproduction of a functioning version of such a lock.
Didn’t see the thing. But you can just make an array of any number of on off switches but wire/mount them in such a way that all or some have to be in the right position to fully complete a circuit to power the door lock mechanism. No one would even know if all the switches are even wired. Use three pole switches to make it even harder. The center position is off, but either up or down may be on.
From a logic gate point of view such a system is pretty trivial. You can make things more complicated by, for instance, demanding a certain order of flipping, or that certain switches are never touched, and so on. In truth it is now cheaper and easier to use a simple micro-controller and write some code.
But from the point of view of a conventional logic circuit a set of switches wired to provide 1 or 0 logic levels connected to an array of XOR gates, would be fine. Then take the outputs of these gates into a multi input AND gate. Simple robust 7400 series logic would get you there in a handful of chips.
Where realising a proper system gets messy is that you need to be able to power it reliably, and to reliably drive the lock. Not hard, but you get into specifics of what sort of power, what sort of lock, and so on. Whether you want something for show, or something that is actually intended to be serviceable.
It’s also worth noting that, if you can access any of the electrodes, it’d be really easy to figure out the correct settings for the switches.
I think this system is meant to keep out honest people, like the lock on your garage door.
Not sure of the details of the OP’s scenario. But here’s one really easy way to do something like this.
Get a bunch of SPDT switches. Wire them in series. Connect the common of one with either side of the next switch as desired. Put in series with a relay lock and a power source. If all the switches are set right you have a continuous circuit and the lock opens.
With 8 switches there’s only 64 combinations which isn’t enough to prevent brute force. With physical items I recommend 80 switches.
You could use SPST switches, but you need to orient the switches as desired and there can’t be any markings to indicate on or off. With SPDT you can orient them the same way without any indication of the wiring pattern.
Using some flip-flops you can have a dynamic pattern: flip switch 1 on, flip 2 on, flip 1 off, etc. That requires far fewer switches but the other electronics gets harder.
Don’t forget a reset button. It would have saved Captain Amazing.