Biometric Based Attendance System for School of Technology and Management - Research Paper Example

A Research Paper on Biometric Based Attendance System for School Of Technology and Management at Different Campuses. Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Introduction: This research paper presents a detailed project plan for developing biometric based attendance system for the school of technology and management at different campuses. The devices decided on are thirty five (35) wall mountable finger print scanner terminals for each of the classrooms that can accommodate 150 students at all campuses. The paper in particular zeros on findings about biometric devices which mainly read finger prints, their advantages and disadvantages, which are indeed meant to better understand the devices an s there are many kinds. The paper still provides; a spreadsheet showing the type of staff, number of hours they are allocated, total cost and material cost. It furthermore identifies the major tasks to be carried out in developing the entire system, the order of the tasks, and major risks that could affect the deliver of the project or cause to exceed the project budget, time scale or increase the required resource. Also included is the labour costs and a work break down structure (WBS) containing these costs, a WBS for the tasks which have tangible outcomes and a process breakdown structure (PBS) for the tasks that are process oriented. To crown it all, the WBS and PBS are linked so that one project manager can be able to manage the project. A project plan using project 2000, an organizational breakdown structure (OBS); a critical path analysis demonstrating the beginning to the end of the project, and a responsibility matrix are as well included. Biometric Devices, Types and Their Advantages and Disadvantages: A biometric device refers to a tool that can identify a person basing on his/her distinguishing physiological and/or behavioural characteristics (PB works 2007). The devices are more reliable as each and every person has got his/her own distinctive features. Generally, the devices consist of three basic elements that comprise of; Enrolment, which is the process of biometric sample collection from for example the students; Template, which refers to the data representing the students; and Matching, which is the process of comparing a line biometric sample against one or many templates in the systems. These devices are expensive security solutions which have their own merits and demerits. The different types include; DNA recognition, Iris recognition, Retinal Scan devices, facial recognition, Voice recognition, Hand geometry recognition, Finger print recognition and signature recognition (PB works 2007). All these vary in prices, availability, devices required, accuracy and social acceptability, as shown in table 1 below. Source: PBworks 2007 Table 1: Comparison of various biometric systems basing on accuracy, cost, and devices required and social responsibility. The advantages and disadvantages of each particular biometric device are as below; The advantages of Facial Recognition are that, it is non-invasive, and it’s cheap. While its disadvantages are that; two dimensional recognition is influenced by alterations in lighting, the individual’s hair, age, as well as if the individual is wearing glasses; and it needs camera gear for the user identification; hence, it’s not liable unless standard equipment is installed. The advantages of Voice Recognition are that, it is non-invasive, high social acceptability; certification time is about 5 seconds; and it’s cheap. While its disadvantages are that; an individual’s voice can be simply recorded and used by an unlawful individual. Also its accuracy is low, and an illness for example flu can alter an individual’s voice, thus making unconditional identification difficult. The advantages of Signature Recognition are that; it is non-invasive, less time of verification, and it’s cheap. Meanwhile its disadvantages are that; it’s intended to authenticate area under discussions based on the characteristics of their distinctive signature. Hence person’s who don’t sign their names in a reliable way may have difficulty enrolling as well as verifying in this system. Also the error rate is one to fifty. The advantages of DNA Recognition are that; its accuracy is very high, thus it is impossible that the system can make mistakes, and it’s homogeneous. Meanwhile its disadvantages are that; it’s exceptionally invasive and very costly. The advantages of Retinal scanning are that; its accuracy is very high, there is no acknowledged way to duplicate a retina, and the eye from a dead individual would deteriorate very fast to be functional. Meanwhile its disadvantages are that; its very invasive, has the stigma of user’s opinion that it’s potentially damaging to the eye, evaluations of template records may take ten seconds depending on database size and it’s very costly. The advantages of Iris recognition are that; its accuracy is very high; authentication instance is normally less than five seconds. Meanwhile its disadvantages are that; it is intrusive, the database has to be of high memory since a lot of data has to be stored, and it is very expensive. The advantages of Finger print recognition are that; its accuracy is very high; it’s the most inexpensive biometric PC client verification method, it is most developed, easy to use, requires a minute storage space, and it is standardized. Meanwhile its disadvantages are that; to various individuals it is very intrusive because it is related to criminal identification, it may make mistakes with dryness and/or the dirtiness of the fingers. The advantages of Hand Geometry are that; although it needs particular hardware to utilize, its integration into other devices is easy, has no public attitude woes, and amount of data needed to identify a user is the minute by far. Meanwhile its disadvantages are that; it’s very costly, it’s sizeable, and it’s not applicable to individuals with arthritis as they can’t put their hands on the scanner. From table 1 above and the various advantages and disadvantages it’s well evident that finger print biometric verification is the most satisfactory method. Spreadsheet Showing Type of Staff, Number of Hours Allocated, Total Cost and Material Cost: Type of Staff Number of Hours Allocated Total Cost Project Manager 819 200 Network Contractor 112 100 Electrical Contractor 112 100 Network engineer 600 200 Software engineer 700 400 Sub Total 1000 Material Cost: Item Unit Unit price Cost Shatter proof boxes 35 100 350 Bio-Time Clock Finger Print Central Server Software for 1299 User (For Central Database) 1 401 401 Bio-Time Clock Sub Server Package for 150 Students (Each Class Package) Includes: 1. Bio-Time Clock Server Software for 150 Students 2. Bio-Time Clock Client PC Software                                3. 2 Unit M2-EasyScan Finger Print Scanner 8 347 2776 Back Up Finger Print Scanner – M2-EasyScan 8 61 488 Bio-Plug-in Server USB Smart Lock 17 5 85 Sub Total 10859 Major Tasks to Be Carried Out: The major tasks involved in the project do comprise of; the whole project planning, which involves establishment of the cost and schedule management, contracting of the electrical, software and network engineers, and procurement management. Other tasks include; technical planning, supervision and building of the network infrastructure (cabling), software unit detailed design, software unit coding, instillation of the central server, the 35 biometric terminals, backups and the bio-time clock finger print central server software, M-2 Easy scan finger prints scanner, installation of the shatter proof boxes, and all these shall be crowned with acceptance testing, defect classification, tracking and metrics, monitoring, and user communication as well as training. Order of the Tasks: The order of the tasks shall be: project planning; contracting of the electrical, software and network engineers; procurement of the software and hardware; technical planning, supervision and building of the network infrastructure (cabling); instillation of the central server, the 35 biometric terminals, backups and the bio-time clock finger print central server software, M-2 Easy scan finger prints scanner; installation of the shatter proof boxes; software unit detailed design, software unit coding; acceptance testing, defect classification, tracking and metrics, monitoring, and user communication as well as training. The work-package in appendix 1 further illustrates the break down of the major tasks to the lower levels. Major Risks and Risk Assessment Table: The major risks that could affect the deliver of the project or cause to exceed the project budget, time scale or increase the required resource include: Inaccurate time assessment which may occur as some activities may have outside dependencies’ such as student consents as well as subcontractors furthermore a hold-up in a critical path activity has a surge consequence on the whole project, and accordingly an incorrect project plan; Inappropriate resource distribution; Under-utilization of resources; Unanticipated expansion of project scope; Misunderstanding of project complexities can occur for instance when various improvement teams work on different facets of the software and come across into problems especially during system/integration testing; Cost over-runs because of under-utilization of resources; Break down in communication; Inconsistent priorities; With the intention of balancing for undue budget over-runs in addition to schedule over-runs, the project could lessen the functionality of the software; Software testing is a downstream phase in the software development lifecycle and as the project may fall behind schedule, the downstream activity may be shrunk in order to meet delivery dates which could result into inadequate software testing. Other risks include: Changes in the school of technology management policies; and Obsolescence of software owing to new technology from an opponent company. Table 2 below shows the risk assessment table. The risk The consequence of an event happening Likelihood rating (1-5) Consequence rating (H,M,L) Under utilization of resources Cost overruns 2 Medium (M) Inaccurate time assessment Affecting the delivery of the project 1 Low (L) An unanticipated expansion project scope Budget increase 3 High (H) Misunderstanding of project complexity Failure in the system/integration testing 1 Low (L) Breakdown in communication Project failure/delay 1 Low (L) Inconsistent priorities Failure of system function 3 high Balancing of undue budget overruns Lessening of the functionality of the software 2 Medium Falling behind schedule Inadequate software testing 4 high Table 2: Risk assessment table Work Break-down Structure and Process Break-down Structure: Appendix 2 does illustrate the work break-down structure (WBS) for those tasks which have tangible outcomes. The figure below illustrates the process break-down structure for those tasks which are process oriented. PROCESS-ORIENTED System design Styling Component Design Both the WBS and PBS can be linked so that one project manager can manage the whole project as illustrated in the figure below, PRODUCT-ORIENTED PROCESS-ORIENTED System design Styling Component Design Critical Path Analysis: The below critical path analysis demonstrates the beginning to the end of the project. Responsibility Matrix: Legend L = Lead Role S = supporting Role Project M’gr HR Mgr Maintenance Purchasing/ materials Engineering Production (supervisors) Finance Employees Communicate importance of project management L S Coordinate auditing efforts S S Track/analyze new regulations and maintain library Obtain permits and develop compliance plans S Prepare reports required by regulations Coordinate communications with interested parties L Train employees L Communicate with contractors L Comply with applicable regulatory requirement L S S S S S S S Monitor key processes L Coordinate emergency response efforts L Develop budget for project management L L Maintain audit reports for the entire project L Coordinate the project delivery process S Since the above table shows only proposed details of staff and materials needed, and as its hourly rate, hence tending to follow Parkinson’s Law, then I would make sure that the project toes strictly the line of the planning and that no resources are under-utilized so that everything sticks to the norm. List of References: PB works 2007. Advantages and disadvantages of biometric technology. Retrieved from http://biometrics.pbworks.com/w/page/14811349/Adavantages-and-disadvantages-of-technology. [09 November 2010]. Read More