Editor’s Note: This content is contributed by Amanda Emerson, Technical Marketing Specialist, Pro AV, Broadcast, and Consumer.
Enhancing security using the latest technology
Security is a topic on everyone’s minds today, and as technology gets more advanced it can be easier to bypass the older systems that others have built. Large scale system hacks are highly publicized and can affect a wide range of people, but smaller scale hacks can be just as devastating. Therefore, its essential to use the best technology to protect what matters most, such as your home and family. Face recognition can provide a more effective home security solution than traditional keys and keypads. Physical keys can be duplicated, stolen, lost, or forgotten, and key codes can be guessed, forgotten, or shared with unauthorized users. Accurate face recognition technology has none of those disadvantages and owners can easily manage the authorization of each person and log their entries. As technology has advanced, some of these legacy systems have become easier to bypass, which is why we need to constantly develop new solutions using the latest technology to keep that level of security. This is where the smart door lock, utilizing machine learning and 3D facial recognition from AMD technology partner Makarena Labs, comes into play.
Addressing the security problems found in basic smart door locks
Smart door locks can provide increased protection for homes and other consumer dwelling spaces (garages, sheds, etc.), but previous versions that have been made can be easily tricked. Due to the incorporated technology, generally a standard CMOS sensor, this smart lock version can be fooled into opening by using 2D pictures of an authorized person’s face. This results in a false recognition and the system will allow an unauthorized person entry, which is a major security breach that needs to be addressed.
This solution, based on a Zynq™ 7000 SoC, provides a fully functional and robust (while still being cost-effective) design that uses 3D facial recognition. This is achieved through a camera that uses IR Time-of-Flight (TOF) or Lidar technology to bounce a pattern off the face of the person attempting to gain entry, and the sensors in the smart lock capture the reflection (figure 1).
Using this reflection, the system creates a 3D map of the face and compares it to the authorized users in the system, only unlocking if a match is found (figure 2). The CMOS sensor provides an added layer of accuracy, and makes user management much simpler for the homeowner, by providing images of each authorized user.
This system also works in complete darkness and can recognize authorized people even while they are wearing glasses, hats, masks or through their new beard!
The Zynq 7000 SoC design can be easily configured and customized by OEMs with help on hand from Makarena Labs, providing a lock which can store a family’s authorized faces, and accurately authorize/reject them in under a second. For applications which need to store a larger number of faces, such as a neighborhood’s security gate, the higher performance Zynq UltraScale+™ MPSoC can support fast recognition even with hundreds of authorized faces. Both parts include robust security engines, which OEM customers can configure to load only authentically signed, encrypted firmware.
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