Fingerprint matching can be a very useful technique. Because individuals have unique sets of fingerprints, fingerprinting is an excellent method of identifying individuals. For this project, a fingerprint matching and classification scheme was implemented in MATLAB. In addition, we actually collected fingerprint samples from individuals using an ink pad. We created a database of fingerprints by scanning these images into the computer and storing them in "TIFF" format.
Fingerprints have various means of comparison. For our project, we chose to use a type classification and correlation-based scheme. First, we perform a coarse classification of the fingerprint into one of five characteristic types; second, we use a correlation-based index to compare an input fingerprint to ones of the same coarse type in the database. Using this method, we are able to match sample fingerprints to ones in our database.