Prosilica Cameras read Datamatrix Bar Codes in Mail Verfication and Chemical Traceability

Operating since 1993, Matrix Systems & Solutions provides process manufacturers with packaging execution and warehouse management system applications, as well as consulting and professional services.

1. Mail Verification (GC1020)
Matrix Systems & Solutions were asked to design and deliver a turnkey solution for a document mailer that processes around 10 million documents on a monthly basis. The system is required to track and verify extremely sensitive medical documents as they are machine inserted. Because of the nature of these documents, the system is required to be error-free in order to prevent any costly lawsuit; a 0.5% error rate would be unacceptable.

“Freezing” the Shots
The system consists of a Prosilica GC1020 monochrome camera mounted 15cm (6 inches) above the inserter and looking down. The camera images continuously at 30 frames per second to capture still images of the documents as they are pulled in a pre-defined sequence and fed on to a conveyor belt. The images are transmitted to a PC operating a Datamatrix decoder and OCR software that read the bar codes to spot any breaks in the sequence, and therefore any errors.

The system requires a very accurate camera capable of “freezing” the shot of the envelopes that are in constant motion. In addition, the Datamatrix bar codes can prove difficult to read due to their small size (less than 6mm - ¼ inch square) and because they must be read through a plastic window which creates unpredictable shadows, hotspots and glare. Strobe lighting at a low angle is used to help with this issue.

The GC1020 is an XGA resolution (1024x768) ultra-compact CCD camera that was chosen for a combination of factors: speed, resolution, price, GigE interface, free SDK and Linux support.

10,000 Bar Codes/hour
Matrix Systems & Solutions used the Prosilica GigE SDK for Linux to develop the operating software for this application. The software is designed so that it first reads the captured image pixel by pixel in order to locate the Datamatrix code and, once located, decode it at high speed (about 10,000 bar codes/ hour). The Matrix system, including the Datamatrix decoder and the OCR software, was built from scratch without the use of any third-party tools and is compatible with all Prosilica cameras. Matrix also specified and fabricated custom-built bracketry and a controller unit including strobe functionality, central power, a touch screen, I/O, as well as Linux and Windows support.

2. Chemical traceability (GE4900)

Matrix Systems & Solutions were also commissioned by a global chemical manufacturer in France to provide them with a 3-tier solution to improve the traceability of their products by associating units to cases and cases to pallets at high speed. This customer processes millions of bottles every year.

Prosilica’s 16 Megapixel GE4900 at
work
Once the production line is activated, the system, built by Matrix Systems & Solutions, starts printing serial Datamatrix bar codes with an inkjet printer on top of the bottles at a high speed rate. The bottles are then randomly picked up by a robot and packed into a case. The open case travels down the conveyor and passes under the Prosilica GE4900 camera to read and aggregate all serial numbers in order to generate an associated case ID. The same logic then applies to tying cases to pallets for optimum traceability.

The Datamatrix code were difficult to read because of varying depth of field on the bottles, reflective caps and poorly printed codes that were randomly skewed. After experimenting with several cameras from various manufacturers, the Prosilica GE4900 (monochrome model) proved to be the only camera on the market that could read a very small micron Datamatrix code accurately and with one shot only. The GE4900 is Prosilica’s highest resolution camera offering 16 Megapixels. The GE4900 incorporates the high-quality Kodak KAI-16000 CCD image sensor to provide exceptionally high resolution and excellent sensitivity. Other manufacturers have used multiple lower resolution cameras on similar applications but with poor results.

Matrix Systems & Solutions used the same controller as per the document mailer system set-up. However, the decoder software had to be modified to accommodate the specific requirements of this application.

Link: Prosilica Camera Overview:
http://www.rauscher.de/Produkte/Kameras/Prosilica-GigE-Vision-Kameras/

RAUSCHER
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D-82140 Olching

Phone +49 81 42 / 4 48 41-0
Fax +49 81 42 / 4 48 41-90

E-Mail: info@rauscher.de
www.rauscher.de

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Download: 

Prosilica_Datamatrix_Bar_Codes_-_Mail_Verification_and_Chemical_Traceability.pdf

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