Gate hardware
Unmanned lanes, the same rules
A Petra Platform gate controller runs the lanes that have no guard. It checks codes, QR passes, tags and plates with exactly the rules the guard's phone uses — dates and hours, entries, the watchlist, emergencies.
Gate controller
A Raspberry Pi or small computer at the gate, wired to the barrier. It keeps a copy of the estate's passes and rules and decides on its own.
Keypads and QR scanners
USB readers that type like a keyboard, or weatherproof Wiegand keypads. Visitors type their code or show their QR.
Resident tags
Windscreen stickers or RFID cards on a Wiegand reader. The estate approves each car and its tag; it opens for its owner.
Number-plate cameras
ANPR cameras on the estate network. Approved resident cars open by plate; visitors booked with their plate are checked like a code.
Offline by design
The gate does not wait for the internet
- Every decision is made on the box, from data it refreshes every few minutes and whenever something changes
- Residents' eight-digit offline codes work with no connection at all
- Controllers at different gates share what they let in over the estate's own network, so a single-use code works once
- Everything is uploaded to the gate log as soon as the connection is back
Safe by design
Hard to fool, easy to recover
- Codes are never stored in the clear; QR passes are signed by the estate
- Remote openings run only when signed by the estate, and are logged with a reason
- Keypads lock after repeated wrong codes; tamper switches are reported
- A lost box is revoked and its secrets rotated from the web app
- Lockdowns and evacuations reach the controller straight away; evacuations hold the exits open
Planning a new gate, or upgrading one?
We can advise on readers, cameras and barriers that work with Petra Platform.