Line Scanner and Barcodes

John R.

Has anyone tried (successfully or otherwise) using the TSL1401 Line Scanner for reading (and decoding) barcodes (I'm thinking along the lines [noparse][[/noparse]no pun intended]·of 3 of 9)?

Phil, oh master of optic manipulation, any good ideas on how to light up a "fan shaped" area to not only illuminate the barcode, but also help indicate if you are far enough away to scan the entire barcode?

By fan shapped I mean something like:

               [noparse][[/noparse]0]
               / \
              /   \
             /     \

·Where the "[noparse][[/noparse]0]" is the line sensor, and the "fan of light" would be flat, in one dimension, and roughly match the angle of view of the line scanner.· Kind of like the "laser line" that shows up with the "real" scanners.

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John R.
Click here to see my Nomad Build Log

Post Edited (John R.) : 5/17/2010 8:54:51 PM GMT

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

John,

Check out my post in this thread: http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=895309.

As to the lighting, as long as you have even illumination, you should be okay. A properly crafted barcode will either read correctly or not read at all, so there's no chance of getting a read if you're only seeing part of it.

-Phil

John R.

Cool beans! Thanks for the link.

My thought on the "fan of light" was actually more for the "user" to know if they were holding the barcode too close to the unit than lighting the bar code.

Looking at this from the "roll your own barcode" per the referenced thread, if one had your color filter set up, and used colored bars, you could easily multiply the information stored in the 21 bars.

My internal cogs are grinding away at the possibilities.

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John R.
Click here to see my Nomad Build Log