Building a bar code scanner

[anand]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

Hi guys,

I am trying to build a bar code scanner and need help from you guys.
Any help about building a bar code scanner would be appreciated. I am
trying to build this bar code scanner and use this in a windows ce.net
application. I am not haveing a lot of time, so i need to hurry.

One more thing: any ideas on projects that use windows ce.net
application and read or write data from the serial, parallel port or
USB port?!
Need to attach a hardware to win ce and play around with the drivers.

Hope you guys can help me!

cheers
Anand

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On 26 Apr 2004 05:38:30 -0700, jatapasvi@hotmail.com (Anand) wrote:

>Hi guys,
>
>I am trying to build a bar code scanner and need help from you guys.
>Any help about building a bar code scanner would be appreciated. I am
>trying to build this bar code scanner and use this in a windows ce.net
>application. I am not haveing a lot of time, so i need to hurry.
>

Do you NEED to build one? Why not buy one?


>One more thing: any ideas on projects that use windows ce.net
>application and read or write data from the serial, parallel port or
>USB port?!
>Need to attach a hardware to win ce and play around with the drivers.
>
>Hope you guys can help me!
>
>cheers
>Anand

How about a USB Cue:Cat? Mounts as a keyboard AFAIK.

 

[GV]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

Gary Tait <classicsat@yahoo.cominvalid> wrote in message news:<2m7q80dfpot67hilsd2t2jsl369fkdumuu@4ax.com>...
> How about a USB Cue:Cat? Mounts as a keyboard AFAIK.


Yea, those were cool, I got one free with Wired magazine or something
similar. I guy I worked with hacked it open and by-passed Cue's
encoding. So when you scanned a bar code, it printed out the real
data and not the encoding. I think he also found an algorithm that
decoded it also.

 

[GV]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

Good luck building one from scratch. Do you have access to diode
lasers, aspheric lenses, bi-refringent (sp?) material (or other
scanning device), ccd chips, small pc boards, the knowledge to build a
board that; a) powers the diode laser with enough power to shine
enough light so it reflects in the white area of the bar code, and not
too much power where you blow the diode b) communicates with the ccd,
and understands and interprets the signals from the return light, and
c) encodes the signals to a hex value or whatever format your drivers
will understand, and oh yeah, do you know how to write drivers to
communicate with your device. And oh yeah, enough time to design it
out, prototype it and test it?
I used to be in manufacturing and I did have access to all that, and
used to work with scanners daily, and I believe that is what you need
to build a bar code scanner.
If you are serious and can read and understand engineering/physics
equations, check out books by Gerald F Marshall. He is known as an
expert/guru in the world of laser scanning. I think his books are
expensive, but they are considered the handbooks of laser scanning
technology.

To write an application for ce.net talking to peripheral devices, I'd
first try out WMI (windows management information). I've written .Net
apps that talk to printers, so I'm sure there is sample code and
script for ce.net, check out
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/scriptcenter/default.mspx
for sample scripts. Also www.gotdotnet.com, www.codeproject.com,
there you will find many code samples as well as links to other sites
too.
Good luck, let us know how it works out.
gv


jatapasvi@hotmail.com (Anand) wrote in message news:<3bc06dc8.0404260438.49041bb1@posting.google.com>...
> Hi guys,
>
> I am trying to build a bar code scanner and need help from you guys.
> Any help about building a bar code scanner would be appreciated. I am
> trying to build this bar code scanner and use this in a windows ce.net
> application. I am not haveing a lot of time, so i need to hurry.
>
> One more thing: any ideas on projects that use windows ce.net
> application and read or write data from the serial, parallel port or
> USB port?!
> Need to attach a hardware to win ce and play around with the drivers.
>
> Hope you guys can help me!
>
> cheers
> Anand

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

"Anand" <jatapasvi@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3bc06dc8.0404260438.49041bb1@posting.google.com...
> Hi guys,
>
> I am trying to build a bar code scanner and need help from you guys.
> Any help about building a bar code scanner would be appreciated. I am
> trying to build this bar code scanner and use this in a windows ce.net
> application. I am not haveing a lot of time, so i need to hurry.
>
> One more thing: any ideas on projects that use windows ce.net
> application and read or write data from the serial, parallel port or
> USB port?!
> Need to attach a hardware to win ce and play around with the drivers.
>
> Hope you guys can help me!
>
> cheers
> Anand

I bought one on eBay - great for scanning CDs and DVCDs and ISBNs.

 

[anand]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

hey Gary,
i could buy one but the professor wants to complicate things, hence
wants us to build one on our own!? he wants the project to deal with
more of hardware than software development. can you guide me, so that
i can build one on my own, any reference will help.

could you tell me a lil more abt the cue:cat?

cheers
Anand


Gary Tait <classicsat@yahoo.cominvalid> wrote in message news:<2m7q80dfpot67hilsd2t2jsl369fkdumuu@4ax.com>...
> On 26 Apr 2004 05:38:30 -0700, jatapasvi@hotmail.com (Anand) wrote:
>
> >Hi guys,
> >
> >I am trying to build a bar code scanner and need help from you guys.
> >Any help about building a bar code scanner would be appreciated. I am
> >trying to build this bar code scanner and use this in a windows ce.net
> >application. I am not haveing a lot of time, so i need to hurry.
> >
>
> Do you NEED to build one? Why not buy one?
>
>
> >One more thing: any ideas on projects that use windows ce.net
> >application and read or write data from the serial, parallel port or
> >USB port?!
> >Need to attach a hardware to win ce and play around with the drivers.
> >
> >Hope you guys can help me!
> >
> >cheers
> >Anand
>
> How about a USB Cue:Cat? Mounts as a keyboard AFAIK.

 

[anand]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

Thanks a lot for the replies. i am still planning on building a bar
code scanner of my own but not for the project sake, as this would
take a hell a lot of time which i dont have. But will let u know when
i complete it successfully.
All i need to do is have a ce.net application that would talk to a
hardware. how hard do u think is programming a serial pic!?

cheers
Anand

jatapasvi@hotmail.com (Anand) wrote in message news:<3bc06dc8.0404260438.49041bb1@posting.google.com>...
> Hi guys,
>
> I am trying to build a bar code scanner and need help from you guys.
> Any help about building a bar code scanner would be appreciated. I am
> trying to build this bar code scanner and use this in a windows ce.net
> application. I am not haveing a lot of time, so i need to hurry.
>
> One more thing: any ideas on projects that use windows ce.net
> application and read or write data from the serial, parallel port or
> USB port?!
> Need to attach a hardware to win ce and play around with the drivers.
>
> Hope you guys can help me!
>
> cheers
> Anand

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

It may be possible to decode the bar codes from digital images or scanned on
a flat bed scanner.
Check out these links:
http://www.adams1.com/pub/russadam/reading.html
http://www.peernet.com/reports/PEERNET_Reports.html?source=Overture
http://www.barcodesinc.com/generator/index.php
http://www.barcodingfont.com/
http://www.libraryware.com/rwbarcode.html
http://www.libraryware.com/rwcuecat.html (free reader with selected
bundles)


Just enter "bar code" in to your search engine for hundreds of similar
links.


"Anand" <jatapasvi@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3bc06dc8.0404260438.49041bb1@posting.google.com...
> Hi guys,
>
> I am trying to build a bar code scanner and need help from you guys.
> Any help about building a bar code scanner would be appreciated. I am
> trying to build this bar code scanner and use this in a windows ce.net
> application. I am not haveing a lot of time, so i need to hurry.
>
> One more thing: any ideas on projects that use windows ce.net
> application and read or write data from the serial, parallel port or
> USB port?!
> Need to attach a hardware to win ce and play around with the drivers.
>
> Hope you guys can help me!
>
> cheers
> Anand

 

[jt]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On 26 Apr 2004 05:38:30 -0700, jatapasvi@hotmail.com (Anand) wrote:

>Hi guys,
>
>I am trying to build a bar code scanner and need help from you guys.
>Any help about building a bar code scanner would be appreciated. I am
>trying to build this bar code scanner and use this in a windows ce.net
>application. I am not haveing a lot of time, so i need to hurry.
>
>One more thing: any ideas on projects that use windows ce.net
>application and read or write data from the serial, parallel port or
>USB port?!
>Need to attach a hardware to win ce and play around with the drivers.
>
>Hope you guys can help me!
>
>cheers
>Anand

You probably need to get a module from a company like Symbol that sells
bare scanner modules as well as packaged scanners and WinCE based handheld
scanners. They also have software developement kits.. How low a level do
you need to go to, and exactly what are you trying to accomplish.

JT

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On 27 Apr 2004 00:57:15 -0700, jatapasvi@hotmail.com (Anand) wrote:

>Thanks a lot for the replies. i am still planning on building a bar
>code scanner of my own but not for the project sake, as this would
>take a hell a lot of time which i dont have. But will let u know when
>i complete it successfully.
>All i need to do is have a ce.net application that would talk to a
>hardware. how hard do u think is programming a serial pic!?
>
>cheers
>Anand
>


Would you settle for a "raw" scanner, where you have to decode in your
hardware/software, or do you have to build your optics yourself?

As to doing it in a PIC, the PS2 versions of Cue:Cat used an 8051, and
I imagine the USB versions do the similar, but with a micro that has a
USB connection on it..

>jatapasvi@hotmail.com (Anand) wrote in message news:<3bc06dc8.0404260438.49041bb1@posting.google.com>...
>> Hi guys,
>>
>> I am trying to build a bar code scanner and need help from you guys.
>> Any help about building a bar code scanner would be appreciated. I am
>> trying to build this bar code scanner and use this in a windows ce.net
>> application. I am not haveing a lot of time, so i need to hurry.
>>
>> One more thing: any ideas on projects that use windows ce.net
>> application and read or write data from the serial, parallel port or
>> USB port?!
>> Need to attach a hardware to win ce and play around with the drivers.
>>
>> Hope you guys can help me!
>>
>> cheers
>> Anand

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

jatapasvi@hotmail.com (Anand) wrote in message news:<3bc06dc8.0404260438.49041bb1@posting.google.com>...
> Hi guys,
>
> I am trying to build a bar code scanner and need help from you guys.
> Any help about building a bar code scanner would be appreciated. I am
> trying to build this bar code scanner and use this in a windows ce.net
> application. I am not haveing a lot of time, so i need to hurry.
>
> One more thing: any ideas on projects that use windows ce.net
> application and read or write data from the serial, parallel port or
> USB port?!
> Need to attach a hardware to win ce and play around with the drivers.
>
> Hope you guys can help me!
>
> cheers
> Anand

Bar code wands were detailed a number of times in the early
small computer magazines. Not much more than a photodiode,
and a schmitt trigger to square it up. You'd run it across
the barcode, and get the raw information, which would then
be decoded by software. And there were plenty of articles
about that software.

Michael

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

"Anand" <jatapasvi@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3bc06dc8.0404262357.464d0c70@posting.google.com...
> Thanks a lot for the replies. i am still planning on building a bar
> code scanner of my own but not for the project sake, as this would
> take a hell a lot of time which i dont have. But will let u know when
> i complete it successfully.
> All i need to do is have a ce.net application that would talk to a
> hardware. how hard do u think is programming a serial pic!?

You can read the digits on the label and type them into your program. The
various barcodes are just a different visual representation of the digits.
And many barcode readers just plug in to the computer's keyboard port.

 

[peterlee]

Hi,
As for me, I am testing the related .net barcode scanner these days. Do you have any ideas about it? Or any good suggestion? I am totally a green hand on barcode reading field. Any suggestion will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.


Best regards,
Arron