On-the-go touchless fingerprint scanner

Abstract

On-the-go fingerprint scanners and methods of capturing fingerprints on-the-go are disclosed. In some aspects, the on-the-go fingerprint scanner can include a scanning area and a beam break sensor disposed coincident to the scanning area such that the beam break sensor detects when an object passes through the scanning area. The scanner can also include at least one hand camera configured to capture a video image of the scanning area such that when the beam break sensor detects that an object has passed through the scanning area, the hand camera detects whether the object is a human hand and the location of any fingers on said hand, and at least one fingerprint camera configured to receive the location of any fingers within the scanning area from the hand camera and capture a high-resolution image of at least a portion of any of said fingers passing through the scanning area.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An on-the-go fingerprint scanner, comprising:
 a scanning area;   a beam break sensor disposed coincident to the scanning area such that the beam break sensor detects when an object passes through the scanning area;   at least one hand camera configured to capture an image of the scanning area such that when the beam break sensor detects that an object has passed through the scanning area, the hand camera detects whether the object is a human hand and a location of any fingers on said hand; and   at least one fingerprint camera configured to receive the location of any fingers within the scanning area from the hand camera and capture a high-resolution image of at least a portion of any of said fingers passing through the scanning area.   
     
     
         2 . The fingerprint scanner of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an illumination system configured to illuminate an object passing through the scanner area, the illumination system having any of a high-power extended light source, a compound hyperbolic concentrator, a lens, a diffuser, or any combination thereof.   
     
     
         3 . The fingerprint scanner of  claim 2 , wherein the illumination system further includes a baffle. 
     
     
         4 . The fingerprint scanner of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the scanning area and the beam break sensor further comprise a cueing light. 
     
     
         5 . The fingerprint scanner of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one hand camera is disposed at least one meter from the scanning area. 
     
     
         6 . The fingerprint scanner of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one fingerprint camera is disposed at least one meter from the scanning area. 
     
     
         7 . The fingerprint scanner of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a controller having at least one processor, the controller being configured to send and receive data to each of the beam break sensor, the at least one hand camera, and the at least one fingerprint camera such that the controller coordinates the activity thereof.   
     
     
         8 . The fingerprint scanner of  claim 7 , wherein the controller is configured to compare data received from any of the at least one hand camera and the at least one fingerprint camera to at least one of a neural network, an Active Shape Model, or a database containing known fingerprint or other biometric data. 
     
     
         9 . A method of capturing a fingerprint on-the-go, comprising:
 determining that an object is passing through a predefined scanning area;   acquiring an image of the object and detecting whether the object is a human hand by determining a contour around the perimeter of the object, applying landmark points to the contour, and comparing the contour to a previously trained Active Shape Model of a hand;   detecting a location of any fingers on said detected hand by processing the location of the landmark points;   detecting the presence or absence of any fingers using a neural network; and   acquiring at least one high-resolution image of a tip portion of any detected finger.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 comparing the at least one high-resolution image of the tip portion of any detected finger against a database of biometric information.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 storing the at least one high-resolution image of the tip portion of any detected finger in a database of biometric information.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 determining a focus metric for each of the at least one high-resolution images.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 retaining those images with the highest focus metric for further processing.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 processing the at least one high-resolution image by at least one of: downsampling the image to 500 PPI, performing a full-frame brightness correction, applying a ridge detection algorithm, processing for both binary and grey level output, or any combination thereof.