Tight Squeeze: A Biometric Lock where Pressure is the Key

Abstract

Locks that do not use smart technology, such as key-based locks or combination locks, have proven to be competent and durable over the years. However, issues with these locks arise when there is no accountability of the locking mechanism. If the user loses the key or the combination of the lock, then the lock is compromised. In order to address these issues, BIO-LOCK-TRICS wants to create an affordable lock for consumers that uses biometric tools to authenticate the user. The neurophysiological factors that are associated with habitual signatures like typing a user name and password, hand-writing a signature, or gripping an object, have shown to be consistent enough to be used as a unique signature. Therefore, the company aims to create a lock that will use the pressure distribution of an individual’s hand-grip to authenticate the user. The lock utilizes an array of switches and a microcontroller to read the user’s hand-grip into an array. At this point, the microcontroller uses basic image processing to authenticate the user. By producing a biometric lock, the company alleviates the need for consumers to carry around a key or remember a combination. As a result, only authorized users will be able to unlock the lock.