Advanced Fingerprint Sensor Solutions for Secure Devices | Campus Component

The relevance of security and authentication solutions has steadily increased in modern electronic product design. Businesses and consumers are expecting convenient and secure access control over systems to protect sensitive information and control access. A Fingerprint Sensor can serve as a hardware biometric interface for a variety of systems requiring the identification of authorized users without reliance on passwords, cards, or keys.

Whether it is to authenticate users of smart locks, attendance systems, or access-control devices, smart payment hardware, IoT devices, or embedded security application, fingerprint technology provides the convenience of secure, one-touch authentication that can contribute towards greater user personalization.

Campus Component aims at assisting engineers, manufacturers, students, startups, and product developers with an electronic component portfolio catered to a multitude of application uses. In its catalog the company list sensors, fingerprint scanner in the electronics category, and touts the advantages of its services supporting customers from concept, product development stages till the eventual production phase. Biometrics can radically change the way electronic systems handle authentication. Since users can carry around access cards or remembering pins can be very cumbersome, the alternative used in biometric systems is the usage of unique body characteristics in the authentication process.

Such characteristics are very commonly and effectively demonstrated using fingerprints which can also be integrated with a compact electronic product.

Fingerprint based security systems can be designed in such a way that they capture the fingerprint presented at the scanner, compare it with previously stored biometric data, and generate a corresponding response (Success/Failure) for the main controller to act upon. This application makes the technology ideal for security focused projects where ease of usage is also paramount. In the growing era of interconnected devices (Internet of Things), biometric scanners are a very appropriate form factor for systems requiring user identification.

An example access control application can involve combining an access control device with a fingerprint reader with a microcontroller, display, relay, buzzer, communication component and a database. Similarly, smart door locks also utilize fingerprint readers, and the system allows them to activate the electronic lock upon the correct finger touch. For a student/employee attendance device, fingerprint identification should be combined with software to log employees/students check in/out times.

The same can be adapted for lockers, cabinets, laboratories, or even for controlled machine and industrial applications to identify users at points where they may require to activate or gain access to controlled devices.

The use cases above clearly illustrate why the selection of appropriate electronic components at the start of a project can lead to successful integration. The sensor can only authenticate you, but developers must also select a matching processor, a reliable power source, a common communication interface to the rest of the device, a storage system, a user interface design, a physical housing, and the software architecture. Therefore, when a developer buys a fingerprint sensor, they must understand that there is also the requirement to check its communication interface along with the rest of the project. Campus Component is a distribution of a multitude of electronic components including sensors, micro-controllers, development boards, wireless modules,displays, power modules, and other associated electronic and embedded components to help developers implement such designs.

When buying a fingerprint sensor for a new product or prototype, the expense of the product may be only one part of what a developer may want to consider.

Other characteristics include compatibility between the different parts of a system, what communication protocol it is designed to support, the operating voltage for the product, speed expectations, the physical footprint of the sensor itself, availability of compatible software components, the conditions it will be utilized in, and how frequently the component will be required to operate. Something that is adequate for an educational prototype might not be suitable for an enterprise grade access control system needing constant operation. When planning which component to utilize and where, a clear understanding of the whole application should be established beforehand.

One reason why the use of fingerprint based authentication has increased greatly is the convenience it presents to a user. Instead of carrying around an access card or recalling a pin to unlock a door or log into a system, the user only needs to present their fingerprint to successfully get authenticated. This form of authentication is extremely useful to a group of people who may have common access points such as an office, school, laboratories, residential building or warehouses/industrial facilities.

A fingerprint reader may then be used to control one or more electronic door locks or other access systems.

This biometric authentication can be coupled with existing access control designs whereby access is provided upon verification of fingerprints. Fingerprints are equally valuable for embedded systems and educational applications. Students will be able to learn a wide variety of topics such as microcontroller programming, communication interfaces, database handling, and the overall process of developing connected devices. Using finger print sensing electronics for an embedded project may be a means of demonstrating concepts of authentication by connecting the sensor to a microcontroller board and controlling one or more electrical actuators.

An educational model may demonstrate enrolling fingerprints, comparing them for authentication and indicating authentication results over a wireless link.

Campus Component's emphasis is to contribute to learning and education at all levels to cater to the needs and trends. The demand for biometric authentication on industrial applications may increase as well for security purposes. For example when restricted access is required for controlling equipment, machinery, inventory or sensitive goods then an electronic authentication system would greatly benefit in identification of a particular user.

When integrated with microcontrollers, the system could automatically provide permission for a user and trigger an action. The system may keep data of who was authenticated or it may connect to a local network or even a central network to handle the authentication. It is key to system design when the entire solution of the sensor, controller, the embedded software and an access mechanism is considered as a complete system.

Smart home applications will be even more prominent in the market segment where consumers will be highly expecting and purchasing connected devices that offer enhanced safety features.

Home owners may no longer have to use a key and could authenticate on certain door locks or security systems. Electronic authentication has opened up a new way for authentication over devices to facilitate common access for the entire household as well as visitors through various authentication methods to manage who can access what area within the premise. Some of the applications where connected biometric hardware can add the most value are where connected devices need wireless connectivity so it could work with Wi-Fi modules. Engineers developing such product can make use of microcontroller coupled to other device such as a biometric sensor, a display for a feedback to user and a wireless component along with many other components to build this system.

Campus Component distributes a wide range of embedded components including sensors, microcontrollers, wireless modules, development boards and displays to develop connected devices and to fulfill requirements of modern IoT applications.

When you decide to fingerprint sensor buy for a new electronic product or prototype, you must take into account more than just the price you might be paying for the component itself. For a new developer, it could be quite confusing to decide on the electronic part to implement in a project. Factors include connectivity (or its communication protocol), its operating voltage requirement, its reaction times or response expectation based on the requirement of the application that the device is going to be implemented in, its size, as well as the availability of adequate software components that it integrates with.

A cheap sensor that may be appropriate for a school prototype may or may not suitable when one is building a smart payment device that may be used quite a lot and for which product life time can increase substantially if the right sensor is selected and if it is compatible with all the surrounding electronic parts. Another important aspect to consider when selecting hardware for prototyping or new product development is its availability at reasonable prices in larger quantities, not only to complete the current project on time but to bring the cost down per unit when moving into the mass production phase of a project. Campus Component lists their availability to support developers beyond just prototyping and that they assist in various other developmental applications such as product prototyping, pilot development, bulk production, and after-sales support.

Having a good understanding of how a sensor operates alongside other system components is essential.

Such interaction between electronics components usually stems from an adequate discussion with the seller of the component if they offer support services and have technical teams that could help to guide you when selecting the parts necessary for your project. Campus Component offers end to end support starting from your project concept stage, through to prototyping, development and final product manufacturing. The field of biometric electronics continues to evolve, intertwined with the rapidly expanding realm of smart devices and Internet of Things (IoT). As embedded systems achieve greater complexity and power, biometric authentication stands to be a primary, seamless component within an elaborate digital ecosystem, interacting with cloud services, communicating with mobile applications and assisting in the remote access to data or a particular physical domain.

Such opportunities are presented to developers to explore the concept of merging sensor technology together with micro-controllers, wireless communication interfaces and intelligence in software.

Of course, with this emerging technology we must have responsible product development. It is important to understand that the biometric data which fingerprints carry is a significant form of personal data and the storage, protection and transfer of such data need to be done in a secure manner; taking into consideration, among others, encryption, access rights, storage and deletion policies, as well as current privacy regulations. The technical superiority of one sensor does not automatically render the resultant system as completely secured; it's the complete system as a whole with well integrated peripheral hardware and embedded software that holds security.