DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A SMART DIGITAL ATTENDANCE SYSTEM USING FINGERPRINT BIOMETRICS AND ESP32 MICROCONTROLLER

Summary

The greatest challenge today for any event or academic management is efficient attendance tracking. A major
limitation of current systems is their trade-off. Manual methods often lead to mistakes and allow for proxy
attendance. On the other hand, automated token-based systems, such as RFID, incur ongoing costs and require
physical tokens. The paper discusses the design, construction, and implementation of a Smart Digital
Attendance Device (SDAD), which is a low-cost portable stand-alone system for biometric recognition based
on fingerprints during attendance with a manual alphanumeric entry system as a backup option. This is built
around an ESP32 microcontroller integrating an S120R optical fingerprint sensor for enrollment and
verification, an SSD1306 OLED display for user interface, a DS3231 Real-Time Clock (RTC) for accurate
timestamping, and a micro-SD card module for non-volatile data storage. The system utilizes a Li-ion battery
and has a power management unit for extended length of time in the field. Detailed descriptions of hardware
architecture, software state machine, and user interface navigation design that is driven by minimal buttons
are provided. Results indicate that the device recorded a 95% first-trial success in fingerprint enrollment, with
data logged reliably in SD storage, and a precise time-keeping mechanism. The SDAD is thus a strong, offline
way of managing attendance in connectivity poor to non-internet areas such as classrooms, workshops, and
corporate meetings, compared to manual systems, thus becoming a feasible alternative to an online biometric
terminal.

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