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Development and Implementation of a Biometric Security Lock System

Article · March 2013

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 Development and Implementation of a Biometric Security Lock System

Esenogho Ebenezer, Idiagi Neville S. & Igimoh John A.

Department of Electrical/Electronic and Computer Engineering
University of Benin
Benin City
Nigeria
ebenezer.esenogho@uniben.edu, neville.idiagi@uniben.edu, adomokhai.igimoh@uniben.edu.
+2348065104099, +2347069797330

Abstract-In these days of rapid industrial growth the population statistic has it that crime and
social vice are steadily on the increase and it is really regretful. This paper considers and
centres on the development and implementation of a biometric security lock system. The lock
system is controlled by the computer equipped with a finger print reader. The computer
controls the door by accessing the fingerprint of the user if it was formerly registered into its
database. The system on start-up registers all necessary fingerprints and then locks up
controls and thereafter accesses them for identification and opens the door whenever the
fingerprint entered by the user is on the database of registered users. The system consists of
the fingerprint reader to access the user fingerprint connected to the computer.
The computer has a program written with visual basic 6.0 software for accessing the reader
and controlling the door. The computer is connected to the control circuit board consisting of
the microcontroller and transistor-relay switches for controlling power to the motor actuator
to move the door open and close whenever the fingerprint reader reads a registered print. The
door mechanism is controlled by the microcontroller when the controller receives access
signal from the PC.
When the system detects a registered fingerprint it would send signal to the hardware
controller to open the door and if it is not a registered user it would not grant access. The
system on completion of design, construction and tests carried out show the system worked
satisfactorily as fingerprint could be registered and the system could identify registered prints
and open the door and display “WELCOME” to the identified user.

(Keywords: Fingerprint reader, microcontroller, visual basic software version 6.0, PC, motor
actuator)

1. INTRODUCTION
With the industrial revolution that led to the discovery of electricity and a general
improvement in technology in the 19th century (Landes, 1969), following various experiments
coupled with the advent of computers, saw a huge breakthrough in home security. This was
because CCTV (closed-circuit television) systems in conjunction with stationed long focal
length cameras were powered on to view home intruders. Though, this made possible to view
remote ends for any non-confrontational crimes to get the offenders identified but it equally

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suffers a lot of hiccups as the intruders could get away with the valuable property without
immediate arrest.
Thereafter, most crimes of burglary till date, which are non-confrontational property
crimes, occur when we are not at home. The most common threat to our home is burglary.
So, protection of home and family from criminal hit should be high on our list of priorities.
In correlation to the aforementioned security consciousness, one can emphatically say
that security of homes and properties has been in existence for a long time, but the methods
of applying and achieving it have been changing from time to time. Modern security
approaches greatly rely on the activities of the intruders which may reveal their presence to a
computer-controlled system. First of all, the intruder must enter the building; a door or
window is the most logical means of criminal entry point. Sensors are set to detect use of
these entrances, an alarm can be triggered when intruder passes or interacts with sensor
devices such as microwave detectors, photo-electric beams, glass break detectors, magnetic
field detection, electrostatic- field detectors, microwave barriers systems, ultrasonic sensors,
and even infrared sensors. Most of these techniques are still in use but instant arrest of the
burglars is hardly sometimes possible. The intruder or impostor action is detected through
wrong fingerprint and this could prompt a signal to get to the home owner which possibly
calls for an instant arrest of the burglars. However, the switch is never closed in the presence
of the house occupant or visitor who simply gains access to the door if only his thumb print
matches with that stored in the biometric device.
Before an in-depth discussion on the subject matter, we need to acquaint ourselves with a
brief analysis of the system under review. The report covers home security using biometric
fingerprinting lock, which is a type of biometric device. The term "biometrics" is derived
from the Greek words bio and metric, meaning life and to measure, respectively. Biometrics
can be defined as the science of identifying or verifying individuals based on unique
physiological or behavioural characteristics. Examples of human traits used for biometric
recognition include fingerprints, hand geometry, speech, face, retina, iris, and handwritten
signature (Wittich,2003). Biometrics can also be defined as the use of a person’s unique
physiological, behavioral and morphological characteristic to provide positive personal
identification (Tripathi, 2011). There are two distinct functions for biometric devices:
1. To prove you are who you say you are.
2. To prove you are not who you say you are not. (San Jose State University, 2000).
Biometric identification systems are essentially pattern recognition systems. They use
acquisition devices such as cameras and scanning devices to capture images, recordings, or
measurements of an individual’s characteristics and computer hardware and software to
extract, encode, store, and compare these characteristics (Emuoyibofarhe, 2011).
Identification systems answer the question, “Who am I?” and do not require that a user claim
an identity before biometric comparisons take place. The user provides his or her biometric
data, which is compared to data from a number of users in order to find a match. The answer
returned by the system is an identity such as a name or ID number (Nanavata et al, 2002)
They establish the genuineness of physiological (e.g. face, fingerprint, iris, retina, hand
geometry) and behavioural (e.g. signature, gait) characteristics of a person. Biometric
recognition is an upcoming and promising field with great commercial magnitude. It is an
extremely reliable source identification system as it is based on what we are rather than what
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we possess. Biometrics technology is without a doubt a more efficient way of authentication
than the more common use of pass words, smart cards, or a combination of the two.
Potentially, the user would not have to remember a password or a series of passwords to
access information. Passwords also have expiration dates that require new assignment of
passwords and more work for technical support staff (Zimmerman, 2003).

2. METHODOLOGY
The methodology employed in this paper work involves
 The development of a power circuitry to power the entire system.
 Deployment of an intelligent control circuitry which employs the use of a
microcontroller.
 Development of a program using visual basic software version 6.0 to respond to the
finger print device for registration, confirmation, identification and verification
procedures to help with the interactive requirements between the user and the
fingerprint machine.
 Installation of the software and the drivers for the fingerprint reader used on the
computer.
 Connection of the fingerprint reader to the PC.
 Tests and expected results.

3. DESIGN ANALYSIS
The block diagram of the biometric security lock system is shown below

Power supply

Fingerprint Computer USB to Micro Motor

reader serial controller actuator
converter

LCD Slide door

display

Figure.1 Block diagram of the biometric security lock system

The design of the biometric lock system would involve the calculation of component
values and their specifications, stage by stage presentation of all individual modules and their
operational principles. The design consists of the following stages/units;

3
 • Power supply
• Microcontroller unit
• Actuator/motor drive unit
• Serial port interface unit

3.1 POWER SUPPLY

The system is designed to be powered by both ac and d.c voltage sources for reliable
operation. Figure 3.1 shows the circuit diagram of the power supply. The functions of the
figure are to step-down the a.c. voltage and rectify it to d.c. voltage. So it consists of a step-
down transformer, a rectifier and a filter capacitor. The bridge rectifier is for rectification and
a filter capacitor for ripple voltage filtration.
The specification of the transformer T1 is step-down transformer of 220V to 24V ac.
This transformer reduces the 220volts from the ac supply to 24volts. In order to arrive at a
unidirectional current supply needed by this circuit board, the 24volts ac voltage is again
rectified to 24volts d.c by the bridge rectifier D1-D4. The capacitors C1 and C2 serve as filter
capacitors.
Output Secondary Voltage = 24V rms.
Peak Output Voltage Vp= 24 x √2 = 33.9V.
Peak output voltage from bridge Rectifier:
VPR = Vp - 2Vd, where Vd = P-N junction drop = 0.7V
VPR = 33.9 - 2(0.7)
= 33.9 - 1.4
= 32.5V
An I.C bridge Rectifier RBPC6005 was used in the design and has the following
specifications:
KBPC6005 Bridge Rectifier
Output Current = 6A at 50°C
Isurge(max) = 125A
Reverse voltage VRRM = 100V (www.datasheetcatalog.com)
Capacitance Specification Used
𝐼
Ripple Voltage, 𝑉𝑟 = 0⁄2𝐹𝐶
1

Where I0 = regulator Output Current

For I0 = 200mA, Vr =1V,
−3
𝐶1 = 200 × 10 ⁄2 × 50 × 1

𝐶1 = 0.002 F
𝐶1 = 2000µF
Therefore, a capacitor of at least 2000µf and working voltage of 32.5V is needed for
this security device. The one chosen for the design is 35V, 2,200µF.
The capacitor C2 is an optional capacitor but put in place to remove any residual ac
ripples from the supply and the chosen value is 25V, 10µF. This value is comparatively small
because the main residual ac ripple will be removed by the first capacitor C1.

4
 To obtain the regulated +5V, an LM7805 voltage regulator is used in the design. The
specification is as shown.
For Battery voltage Vcc = 12V
Regulator voltage = 5V
Load current Ia = 1.48A (www.datasheetcatalog.com)
(𝑉 − 𝑉𝑟𝑒𝑔 )
𝑅1 = 𝑐𝑐 ⁄ = (12 − 5)⁄
𝐼𝑎 1.48 = 4.7Ω

3.2 THE MICROCONTROLLER CIRCUIT

The microcontroller used in this work is the Microchip PIC 16F628A. It has Only 35
single word instructions to learn and all instructions single-cycle except for program branches
which are two-cycle. (www.datasheetcatalog.com). The feature for which the microcontroller
was selected is its asynchronous serial communication feature via RS232 protocol
The microcontroller circuit was configured to work with its internal oscillator which
is set to 4MHz by the manufacturer. Pin 4 is the master clear terminal and it is used here for
start-up delay to protect the program from timing problem at start caused by power up surge.
Resistor R1 and Capacitance C1 determine the delay time. Diode D1 discharges the capacitor
C fast during shutdown or power-off and also from capacitor overshoot voltage.
(www.datasheetcatalog.com)
Figure 2 shows the microcontroller circuit and its associated components. R2 and C2
determine the frequency of oscillation and also the instruction cycle. Pin 4 is the master clear
terminal and it was used to achieve external start-up delay for the microcontroller. R1 and C1
determine how long the microcontroller will remain in the reset state until power surge
subsides before it will start working. This is necessary so that the microcontroller internal
clock will not be affected by power supply surge transients when powered for the first time.
(www.datasheetcatalog.com). The microcontroller controls the circuit. It continuously
monitors all vibration sensor lines for any trigger signal and when it detects any of them, it
processes the signal to know the source which helps it determine the sequence of controls for
the GSM to send the appropriate SMS.

Figure 2: Microcontroller Functional Block Circuit

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The microcontroller uses a crystal oscillator of 4MHz for clocking.
Let the start-up delay time Ts = 0.7R1C1
For a time Ts = 40µs and Cl = l0nF, then;
𝑇 −6
𝑅1 = 𝑠⁄0.7𝐶 = 40 × 10 ⁄0.7 × 10−9
1

R1 = 5.6kΩ.

3.3 ACTUATOR / MOTOR DRIVE CIRCUIT

The motor or actuator control circuit of figure 3 is made up of the transistor-relay
switches for controlling power to the d.c motor that moves the door lock mechanism. Two
transistor relay switching circuits are employed in this device, one of which controls the
power to move the lock mechanism to forward direction (locking of the door) while the other
moves it in the reverse direction (opening of the door).
Relay specifications: (www.datasheetcatalog.com)
Relay resistance used 400Ω
Relay operating Voltage = 12V
𝐼𝑐 = 𝑉⁄𝑅 = 12⁄400
Ic = 30mA.
The transistor is the C945 NPN type and the specification is shown below:
C945 NPN (silicon) Specification. (www.datasheetcatalog.com)
BVCEO = 40V
BVCBO = 70V
Ic(max) = 0.6A
Pd(watts) = 0.625W
Hfe = 100 typical
Vce (sat) = 0.2V
For ß = 100
𝐼 −3
Base current 𝐼𝐵 = 𝐶⁄𝛽 = 30 × 10 ⁄100 = 30 × 10−5 𝐴

(𝑉𝑐𝑐 − 𝑉𝑏𝑒 ) (5
Base resistor 𝑅𝐵 = ⁄𝐼 = − 0.7)⁄
𝐵 30 × 10−3 = 14333Ω.
A value of l5kΩ was chosen as the closest standard value.

6
Figure 3: DC Motor-Actuator Drive Circuit

3.4 SERIAL PORT INTERFACE

The serial port (DB-9) is the port with which the communication of the PC and the
microcontroller is established. The PC hyper-terminal program is used to send the
information to be displayed to the microcontroller. This interface helps to establish the
communication using the standard RS-232 communication protocol. The MAX232 dual RS-
232 dedicated interface IC by maxim is used because of the voltage levels involved in the
RS-232 communication protocol. The pin layout is presented in figure 4.13 hereunder.
The MAX232 is a dual driver/receiver that includes a capacitive voltage generator to
supply EIA-232 voltage levels from a single 5-V supply. Each receiver converts EIA-232
inputs to 5-V TTL/CMOS levels. These receivers have a typical threshold of 1.3 V and a
typical hysteresis of 0.5 V, and can accept ± 30-V inputs. Each driver converts TTL/CMOS
input levels into EIA-232 levels. The driver, receiver, and voltage-generator functions are
available as cells in the Texas Instruments LinASIC library.

7
Figure 4: Complete Diagram of the Biometric Fingerprint Access System

8
3.5 OPERATIONAL PRLNCIPLE OF THE BIOMETRIC LOCK SYSTEM
The complete circuit diagram of the biometric lock system is presented in figure 4
while figure 5 shows the flowchart of the system. The biometric lock system consists of a
fingerprint reader for capturing the user fingerprint, a computer (PC) for data analysis and
also equipped with the Visual basic software developed for processing the data from the
reader and the microcontroller interface circuit (16F628A) whose function is to communicate
with the PC and to control the door to open or close, based on the instruction from the
computer.
At the first installation of the circuit, the necessary fingerprints are registered by the
user from the PC and the fingerprint reader. After registration, the user is asked to verify the
entry and at the end of registration the system is fully ready for identification. When a user
enters a fingerprint by placing his/her finger on the reader, the computer would immediately
capture the print and compares it to those in its database. If it detects it as one in its database,
it will display ‘welcome’ and grant access to the user.
The access granted is shown by the PC sending a signal to the microcontroller through
the USB to serial converter. The microcontroller then receives the message and opens the
door for every identified user and after 2 seconds, closes the door. The controller opens the
door by sending a control pulse to the transistor Tr1 and Relay RLY1 and sends signal to Tr2
and RLY2 to close the door.
Transformer T1 is a step-down transformer of 220V to 12V dc. Diodes D1 -D4 is for
rectification of a.c. to d.c. voltage and C1 is the filter capacitor. 7805 is a 5V voltage regulator
for supplying a regulated 5V to power the control circuit. Tr1 and Tr2 are transistors for
switching the relays to control power to the door mechanism motor actuator. Tr1 controls
power for opening while Tr2 is for closing of the door.

9
Figure5: Flowchart of the Biometric Security lock System

4. IMPLEMENTATION AND TESTING

The system implementation was embarked on after designing and determining
components to be used, accessibility and cost of obtaining them from the market.
The implementation started with installation of the software and the drivers for the
fingerprint reader used on the computer. The fingerprint reader was then connected to the PC
and it was ensured that it was properly connected and the drivers installed. This will show
with the PC identification notice with a dialogue box that the fingerprint hardware has been
connected to it.
The visual basic program was developed to respond to the fingerprint device for
registration, confirmation, identification and verification procedures to help with the
interactive requirements between the user and the fingerprint machine.

10
Figure 6: Diagram of the Full Biometric Lock System

4.1 TESTING
The testing was done by connecting the fingerprint reader machine to the PC and
entries were done with sample fingerprint of individuals who volunteered for the tests. They
were all registered and verified.
After verification process the system was tested again by asking all the persons that
were initially registered to touch the fingerprint machine for identification. The results were
noted accordingly.

4.2 TEST RESULTS

The system, after being subjected to series of tests, gave results that were satisfactory.
The results of the test mainly presented are for the expected response of the biometric sensor.
The result is presented in the following table.

Table 1: Test Results of the Security Device with Biometric Sensor

Biometric Scanner Screen Display Door Status
No scanning of thumb print No information Closed
Scanning of thumb print for registered Message for registered users Opened
users successful and access granted
Scanning of thumb print for identification Access denied and no Closed
of unregistered users authorization

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4.3 BILL OF ENGINEERING MEASUREMENT AND EVALUATION
The components and their relative cost are as shown in the table below. The total
would give an estimated total cost of the project work.

Table 2: Bill of Engineering Measurement and Evaluation

S/N Item Unit Price (N) Quantity Amount (N)
1. Fingerprint reader Zk7000 20,000 1 20,000
2. PIC16f628A 1,000 1 1,000
3. IC sockets 20 2 40
4. Relays 200 2 400
5. Cables 500 - 500
6. USB to serial converter 2,000 1 2,000
7. Aluminium Slide-door 2,500 1 2,500
8. 12V transformer 350 1 350
9. Bridge rectifier 60 1 60
10. 35V 220µF 50 1 50
11. 5v voltage regulator 40 1 40
12. Soldering lead 500 - 500
13. Veroboard 100 1 100
14. Lift mechanism 1,500 1 1,500
TOTAL N 29,040

5. CONCLUSION
The paper presents the development and implementation of a biometric security lock system
and the usefulness cannot be overemphasized putting into consideration, the fact that it took a
step further to incorporate image processing technology (biometrics). The system was
designed to function as a protection system that can be used at home, offices, cars from
burglars who would want to break in.

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