Design and Fabrication of 3D Fingerprint Targets

Standard targets are typically used for structural (white-box) evaluation of fingerprint readers, e.g., for calibrating imaging components of a reader. However, there is no standard method for behavioral (black-box) evaluation of fingerprint readers in operational settings where variations in finger placement by the user are encountered. The goal of this research is to design and fabricate 3D targets for repeatable behavioral evaluation of fingerprint readers. 2D calibration patterns with known characteristics (e.g., sinusoidal gratings of pre-specified orientation and frequency, and fingerprints with known singular points and minutiae) are projected onto a generic 3D finger surface to create electronic 3D targets. A state-of-the-art 3D printer (Stratasys Objet350 Connex) is used to fabricate wearable 3D targets with materials similar in hardness and elasticity to the human finger skin. The 3D printed targets are cleaned using 2M NaOH solution to obtain evaluation-ready 3D targets. Our experimental results show that: 1) features present in the 2D calibration pattern are preserved during the creation of the electronic 3D target; 2) features engraved on the electronic 3D target are preserved during the physical 3D target fabrication; and 3) intra-class variability between multiple impressions of the physical 3D target is small. We also demonstrate that the generated 3D targets are suitable for behavioral evaluation of three different (500/1000 ppi) PIV/Appendix F certified optical fingerprint readers in the operational settings.