$30 Face Recognition System - Make:

$30 Face Recognition System

Computers & Mobile Craft & Design Technology

I am descended from 5,000 generations of tool-using primates. Also, I went to college and stuff. I am a long-time contributor to MAKE magazine and makezine.com. My work has also appeared in ReadyMade, c't – Magazin für Computertechnik, and The Wall Street Journal.

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@seanragan

May 16th, 2011 10

Cornell undergraduates Brian Harding and Cat Jubinski built a portable face recognition system for their capstone ECE 4760 project:

Our design consists of an Atmel ATmega644 8-bit microcontroller, a C3088 camera module with an OmniVision OV6620 CMOS image sensor, Atmel’s AT45DB321D Serial Dataflash, a Varitronix MDLS16264 LCD module for output, a 9-volt battery, and a small wooden structure for chin support.

The system is hooked up to a computer to train the pattern-recognition algorithm, but from then on it can enroll new users, delete old users, and recognize up to 20 enrolled users as a standalone system. Their very detailed report claims “an 88% successful login rate with no false positives” and includes testing data, schematics, source code, a priced parts list, and some ideas for improvement in the next prototype. [Thanks, Max!]