how to scan a barcode on a part, take a digital picture of the inside of the same part, and save the digital picture with the barcode number as its file name?

[doug-john]

I need to create a VI that accomplishes the following:

1. An operator scans a 8 digit numerical barcode label on a circuit board, or enters the 8 digit barcode number with a keyboard.

2. They then place the circuit board under a digital camera and press a button, mouse or space bar.

3. The digital picture of the circuit board is taken and the file is saved with the barcode number as the file name.

I'm a Labview beginner and do not have a lot of time to complete this project.

Doug

[Dennis_Knutson]

What have you done so far? Do you have a camera? What type? Do you have a copy of NI-Vision?

I have not done camera acquisition in a long time but the above toolkit will make your job much easier. There is a dedicated Machine Vision board that will be better for this type of question.

The scanning of the bar code is trivial. If it's a USB or keyboard wedge type, all you need is a string control.

For learning LabVIEW, there are tutorials and classes available to get you up to speed.

[doug-john]

Not much done so far:

I've played around with a few VI example, ordered a USB barcode scanner, no camera yet..s

[doug-john]

I do not have NI-Vision, was told by NI tech help I might only need the Vision Aquisition Software (about $419).

As a start, please advise on how to do the string input for the barcode

[nathand]

Most barcode readers are capable of acting as a keyboard so you don't have to do anything special other than make sure that a string control has focus; then the barcode reader will "type" the barcode directly into your string control, or your user can type it in by hand.

An alternative is to set your barcode reader to act as a serial device.  It is then easy to use the VISA Serial Read function to read the barcode.  This takes a small amount more work to set up but means that you don't have to worry about which control has focus when the barcode is scanned.

Some barcode readers will also act as digital cameras - for example, I've been using a Handheld imager that will both scan barcodes and read images.  The barcode reading part works great in my LabVIEW program; I haven't tried using the camera programmatically but there's probably a way to make that work as well.  If you don't need very high-resolution images this might be an easy and relatively inexpensive way to read your barcode and take yourpicture with the same device.

[Dennis_Knutson]

Here's one simple way. The bar code reader would be programmed to append a return at the end of the scan and the key navigation of the okay button is set to use this. There a lot of options you can add to this. For example, you might need to check the format of the scan (i.e. number of characters) before you exit.

[doug-john]

I do want to use the string input, so that is it does not scan they can enter the number with the keyboard.

Since the barcode is susposed to be 8 digit number, can the string input be set to 8 digits and numbers only?

This would prevent the operator from entering a letter, or to few digits by mistake.

[Dennis_Knutson]

If you want only numbers, use a numeric control instead of a string.

[doug-john]

Dennis,

How can I see the Block diagram for the front panel you just sent me??

[RavensFan]

Have you tried Control-E?