Fingerprint biometrics company Lumidigm’s V-Series fingerprint sensors are rugged and reliable, making them suitable for use in the mining industry, where traditional fingerprint biometrics have a difficult adoption rate because the environment often causes mineworkers’ hands to be dirty and calloused.

Lumidigm solutions business development VP Greg Sarrail tells Mining Weekly that Lumidigm sensors are equipped with multispectoral imaging technology and can register the necessary information of any individual in real-world environments, even if they are dirty and uncontrolled.

This technology is unique because it collects fingerprint data from the surface and the subsurface of the skin, unlike conventional sensors that can only read the surface characteristics of the skin. Lumidigm’s fingerprint sensors can, therefore, create high-quality fingerprint images, even when surface contaminants, such as grime and sweat, obscure the surface characteristics.

The sophisticated multispectral imaging technology uses multiple spectrums of light and advanced optical techniques to extract unique fingerprint characteristics from the surface and subsurface of the skin, as the foundation of the fingerprint ridges on the skin’s surface are beneath the skin, in the capillary beds and other subdermal structures.

Meanwhile, Lumidigm V-Series sensors include exceptional fake- finger detection to prevent fraud or misuse. The positive identification of mineworkers is also critical to ensure their safety and to make sure that each worker is accounted for, especially in an evacuation.

V-Series sensors are made of highly durable magnesium alloy, which protects the sensors against dust and low-pressure water. These physical characteristics are important, but hardly relevant unless the technology also can deliver excellent biometric performance in the mining environment, notes Sarrail.

This fingerprint technology can be used as a solution for authorised access control at entry points and for controlling attendance at mines, he says. “When reliable identity verification is coupled with an attendance management platform, workforce solutions, such as shift management, overtime and labour costs, can be managed effectively.”

Lumidigm V-Series sensors have been available in South Africa for the past four years. The Lumidigm products are available from information and communication technology infrastructural services and solutions provider Bytes Systems Integration, which also develops the biometric back-end system and provides services to support the proper implementation of the technology.

“With help from a strong partner, such as Bytes System Integration, Lumidigm will soon become part of many South African’s lives – regardless of whether they are working in mines,” Sarrail concludes.