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FF4m3
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FF4m3

Anon

Google Engineers Open Source Book Scanner Design

From H-Online:

Engineers from Google's Books team have released the design plans for a comparatively reasonably priced book scanner under an open source licence on Google Code. The Verge reports that the engineers developed a prototype during the "20 per cent time" that Google allocates to its employees for personal projects. Built using a scanner, a vacuum cleaner and various other components, the Linear Book Scanner can automatically digitise entire books.

The book scanner's individual components cost approximately $1,500 in total. According to the report, scanning a book with 1,000 pages takes around 90 minutes. Apparently, this only requires 40 seconds of preliminary setup work. A simple mechanism that uses the vacuum cleaner enables the device to turn pages automatically once the front and back of a page have been scanned.

Dany Qumsiyeh, one of the developers, has described the construction details in a document that has now been published.

By releasing the plans for the Linear Book Scanner, the engineers have made it possible for anyone to build their own device, and the open source nature of the release makes it likely that the design can be further optimised.


anon posts
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anon posts

Anon

Even better: DIY book scanning

said by »diybookscanner.org/ :
"Do-It-Yourself Book Scanning is using cheap, compact cameras and Free software to scan books quickly and efficiently. DIY Book Scanners can be as simple as a camera and a piece of glass [PDF] or as involved as the Instructable that brought our community together [PDF / Vimeo]. We've come a long way since then. We have GPL-licensed laser cut designs, aluminum designs, and detailed instructions for beginners. We have built hundreds of scanners and freely shared thousands of design improvements. We are the most open, sharing, and productive scanner building community on the 'net, and we're looking forward to meeting you in the Hello Thread, where our members tell their stories and reasons for getting involved.

TL;DR - Point a camera at a book and take pictures of each page. You might build a special rig to do it. Process those pictures with our free programs. Enjoy reading on the device of your choice. "

Steve
I know your IP address

join:2001-03-10
Tustin, CA

Steve

Not so much "even better"; the second post describes a machine that requires a human to turn the pages, but the first one is fully automatic.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd to FF4m3

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to FF4m3

Re: Google Engineers Open Source Book Scanner Design

going to figure the Google device is possibly not aimed at home users but at smaller universities and public libraries where budgets are always a worry. But both have incentive to digitize their collection for preservation reasons at least.

Not saying of course a home user could not build and use this.

I do however expect in a day or two for some publishing trade group to come out screaming at Google for releasing the plans to what they are going to all "A mass infringement device."

anon posts
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anon posts to Steve

Anon

to Steve

Re: Even better: DIY book scanning

If you look in the forums, there are models with page-turners: some vacuum-style, some using friction methods. Page-turning is the hardest part, it seems.

It's not certain that the google model works perfectly, BTW:
said by »www.diybookscanner.org/f ··· &p=15144 :
In the video, the presenter said that in testing, the [Google] prototype could scan 60% of books. Of these books, 45% had skipped pages and 45% had folded or torn pages. Hopefully these stats will improve with further development.