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If your lock is one of the most common 90% of consumer pin tumbler locks, you can just avoid all this complexity and bump key them instead.

[0] Lock bumping (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lock_bumping

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I am pretty sure anyone building a lock picking robot is at least aware of some lock picking basics, and that's clearly not the point of a project like this. They could get a Lishi, a rake, a comb, almost anything, and we could also argue that this won't work with pin-in-pin dimple locks, tubular locks, and disc detainers, but again, obviously not the point.

I'm now imagining a sub-genre community like the 3D printer Benchy racing people.

A friendly competition to see who can build the fastest robot that can open a small range of the most commonly used locks.

This is a fantastic idea for a community challenge! Would have to make some ground rules though or else the winning bot is just a diamond coated drill or a gallium squirt gun.

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