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Face recognition for the mining industry

Security and time and attendance in the mining industry have become crucial issues.

While technology has played a significant role in addressing this, new technologies are continually being introduced that surpass previous products. And with this brings better quality and new functionality.

Biometric security products manufacturer, RCG, which launched as RCG Systems SA in October 2006, has announced a number of solutions for the mining industry to address these areas.

"Most mines use swipe cards for time and attendance, but the technology is open to abuse and cards or discs can and do get lost or damaged," says RCG Systems SA operations manager, Mike Cox. "Cards can be swapped, or 'clocked in' by a colleague with the card owner remaining on the surface and even used by people going underground illegally."

Facial recognition solutions have reached a level now whereby a database of 750 000 faces can be searched and a one-on-one result given in approximately 1 second.

"An efficient face recognition system will overcome many of the time-and-attendance and security issues mines are currently experiencing," says Cox.

The solution also needs to be operational as a standalone system to improve recognition speeds. Thereafter an integrated system to the corporate LAN can save specific data, such as time and attendance for further processing.

RFID connectivity is important and can be integrated to provide added functionality such as the movement of equipment into and out of the mine, its specific location within the mine, as well as asset tracking.

"Overall, a face recognition verification engine able to identify and inform management of unauthorised people entering the mine will go a long way in alleviating just one problem of illegal miners going underground.

"The cost benefits of being able to track miners underground, control access and identify illegal miners are enormous," Cox concludes.

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