PiFinger Is the First-Ever Fingerprint HAT for Raspberry Pi

By now, we’re all familiar with fingerprint sensors on our phones, but they’re not very reliable. That’s where PiFinger comes in. PiFinger is the first-ever fingerprint HAT for Raspberry Pi that’s supposed to be easy to use and efficient.

Trained to work with Raspberry Pi, the device has a fingerprint sensor that runs on capacitive-contact technology or a 2D capacitive fingerprint sensor, which has an active scanning area of 8.8 x 8x8 mm and a resolution of 176 x 176 pixels. Based on capacitive coupling, the fingerprint sensor can detect and measure anything that is conductive or has a dialectic.

It’s equipped with an onboard Nuvoton MCU featuring an on-chip crypto-accelerator, Cortex-M23 TrustZone, and XOM facilities that promise to provide high accuracy with power simultaneously. The Nuvoton MCU can also be used as an interface IC and control unit for the board. PiFinger can be connected to smart devices, like a PC, via USB. It can even be controlled by the MCU processor over a serial UART interface.

It may not look pretty, but PiFinger boasts several advantages, like high image quality, low power consumption, robust coating material, 15kV ESD protection, adaptability to a wide range of temperature, straightforward SPI interface through a set of LGA-Style pads. Its programming gives it the ability to compare and register up to 24 fingerprints as well as recognized algorithms for fingerprint comparison. And its XOM mechanism protects your code, ensuring unauthorized personnel doesn’t access your information.

PiFinger is ideal for those who want to develop fingerprint related products or just want to experiment with the technology. It’s compatible with all variants of Raspberry Pi, so no need to upgrade if you’re using an older model. PiFinger is currently available on Kickstarter, starting at $50. The project hopes to get the product delivered in February 2021.