Does anyone know how to make one of these scanners act as a power button? Sorry if this has been mentioned...searched it but didnt find anyting. Thanks
would you like the scanner hard wired to the power switch, or somthing through software? what connections has the scanner got etc?
well i dont have one yet i just wanted to know if it was even possible. I was thinking of hard wiring it to the power switch.
I think that you would need a old pda hook a biometric scanner to that then rig it to turn the pc on when the scanner gets a match
Welcome to the forum glaeken. Not on its own. The scanner plate actually takes lots if images of your fingerprint and sends it to the PC, a bit like a webcam, via USB, parallel+PS2 or cordbus. The software then picks out key points of the print, and if correct, logs you into Windows. You would need another piece of hardware to recognise the signal input by it, check its correct and then short the power pins on your mobo. Somehow this would have to be tied in with the Windows boot sequence too. So in short, not really. You could have a touch-plate to turn the PC on (555 timer trigger and all that) and mount the fingerprint reader next to it to logon though. Could look good if you made them look identical and mounted them next to each other.
All you need is a 555 timer circuit which you can build for peanuts and the plate can be anything metallic. I'll get more info for you when I get back home this afternoon.
With a bit of Google searching and my limited electronics knowledge I came across this whihc would probably be easier to make.
You couls also buy a biometric door lock, and wire that up to the power switch. As far as I know, you do not need to have them connected to a PC for them to work, and since the lock itself is mechanical, you may even be able to have it press a button to turn on the PC.
Whoah... Since some of us can't really read electrical diagrams, I'd really like to see a tutorial on how to make a touch-switch... do you think this would be hard for you/anyone to do? I wonder if you could wire one in your PC to control lights on/off...?? (This would work while the PC is on... I guess.) It would be nice to have a "hidden" button for my project...
yeah a guide would be really nice since I have very limited electrical experience. thanks for all the help.
would be simple, just a relay in place of the motherboard in that diagram. btw, relay is a "electronic switch" when a current is passed through it, it closes the contacts and therefore completing the circuit on the other side.
they do sell fingerprint scanners for home use to unlock doors... they use relays, so using one of these would make it possible. (and very easy for this project, they also run off of a 9v battery for a few months.. ) however they cost about $200.00 or more gl EDIT: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=85896&item=5972886738&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW GL
Thanks, but: I.) I know what a switch does. II.) My post says: "Since some of us can't really read electrical diagrams, I'd really like to see a tutorial on how to make a touch-switch... do you think this would be hard for you/anyone to do?". Therefore, I don't understand the diagram. I asked about this because I don't know the following: I.) What all the components are II.) how to connect them together (PCBoard??)
I'll check component availbility, have a fiddle and maybe post a quick guide if all works out OK. I remember making one of these for GCSE all those years ago, if I can find my little prototype I'll take a few pics. I'm working a lot at the minute though so don't expect anything straight away! In regards to the above diagram, the rectangles are resistors with the appropriate valie printed next to them, the big box is the MOSFET itself with its name next to it, 5V is the red wire in your PC and 0V is black. The finger contacts can be anything as long as they are quite close together. I use stripboard for my little projects, is cheap and easy. Google for it and its everywhere.
Just a suggestion and I know this is a little off of topic but if you want to do this for security then you would be better off waiting until june and purchasing PGP 6.0 it has a whole drive option where you can encrypt your whole C drive with 256 bit encryption a Cray computer could not even crack that encryption level. But it would not be nearly as cool as the Biometric switch it would however be wayyyy more secure I have the beta version if you would like to download it I can post a link here this is how it works when you boot your computer the first thing you get is a decrypt password once you enter that the computer will contue the boot process and voila you are up and running. No password no computer it is really that simple. Anyway I thought I would chime in with my 10 cents = )
