Unit 5 (C)

A Mechatronic
Marvel:
The Barcode
Scanner
Dr. Kevin Craig & Dr. Mark Nagurka

Professors of Mechanical Engineering
Marquette University
Bar Code Scanner K. Craig & M. Nagurka 1

Design News Web Cast
• Web Cast Introduction
– Mechatronics and the Barcode Scanner
• Part 1: Barcodes and Barcode Scanners
– Types of Barcodes
– Types of Barcode Scanners
• Part 2: Barcode Scanner Uncovered
– Key Elements
– Mechatronic System Design
• Part 3: What’s Next?
Web Cast Introduction
Mechatronics
and the
Barcode Scanner

Plant Dynamics
Plant
&
Design
Control Structure

• Mechatronics is the synergistic integration of physical systems,
electronics, controls, and computers through the design process,
from the very start of the design process, thus enabling complex
decision making.
• Integration is the key element in mechatronic design as
complexity has been transferred from the mechanical domain to
the electronic and computer software domains.
• Mechatronics is an evolutionary design development that
demands horizontal integration among the various engineering
disciplines as well as vertical integration between design and
manufacturing.
• Mechatronics is the best practice for synthesis by engineers
driven by the needs of human beings and industry.
• Plant dynamics and control structure must be included in the plant
design from the very start of the design process.
A Mechatronic Marvel
Today
Yesterday
• As a young boy growing up in the late 1950s, I remember well
trips to the grocery store on a Saturday morning with my dad
and going to the check-out line where a person would quickly
read the price of the item, punch the keys on the cash register,
and be able to add and subtract with lightening speed if a
correction needed to be made.
• Then there was the familiar kaching sound when the cash
drawer was opened. Most youngsters received a toy cash
register as a birthday present in those days.
• How the world has changed! Barcode scanners are everywhere
– most of us hardly notice them anymore. Everything seems to
have a barcode and the world would come to a standstill if
barcode scanners stopped working.

• Barcode technology began revolutionizing the retail market in
1974, when a checker at a supermarket in Troy, OH, slid a pack
of gum imprinted with a simple linear barcode over a fixed
scanner to ring up the price.
• Thirty four years later barcodes are scanned about five billion
times a day, and are used as much for tracking packages as they
are for ringing up purchases.
• Barcodes can be found on airline and concert tickets, driver
licenses, library books, hospital wristbands – the list of products
bearing these black-and-white symbols is nearly endless, and still
growing.
• But barcodes are not just consumer-based, point-of-service tools;
they actually have their roots in manufacturing and distribution
for ensuring the accuracy of inventory and that the correct item is
delivered to the correct location in a timely manner.
• Barcodes are now being used in many industries outside retail
and manufacturing, particularly for quality control and security
applications.
– Hospitals are investing in barcode scanners to lower the
risk of medication errors.
– The U.S. Food and Drug Administration now requires drug
makers and blood suppliers to include barcodes on most of
their products.
– Educational institutions are implementing barcodes on
student and faculty identification cards to improve campus
security and communication.
– Most airlines now offer “ticketless” tickets printed with
barcodes that streamline the check-in process and allow
security personnel to quickly verify the identity of
passengers and their baggage.
• In a recent Design News article and web cast, we explored the
world of the digital camera. A barcode scanner can be considered
a very specialized digital camera and, since barcodes convey
digital information through a combination of narrow and wide
bars and spaces, they can be viewed as the optical version of the
Morse code.
• The barcode scanner is truly a mechatronic device as it
encompasses so many engineering areas: mechanical, electrical,
materials, manufacturing, optics, controls, signal processing,
electronics, microcontrollers, actuators, and sensors. It is a very
complex integrated system in which all the components work
together, and improvements in performance come from a systems
approach and not just by upgrading individual components.
• So what is this mechatronic marvel that looks like a Star Trek
phaser and what is next in the world of automatic identification?
Web Cast Part 1
Barcodes and
Barcode Scanners

What is a Barcode?
Anatomy
of a
Barcode

• Many industries utilize an identification system in which the
products are marked with a barcode symbol consisting of a series
of lines and spaces of varying widths, or other types of symbols
consisting of series of contrasting markings.
• A number of different barcode readers and laser scanning systems
have been developed to decode the symbol pattern to a multiple
digit representation for inventory, production tracking, and for
check out or sales purposes.
• Barcode symbols are formed from bars or elements that are
typically rectangular in shape with a variety of possible widths.
The specific arrangement of elements defines the character
represented according to a set of rules and definitions specified by
the symbology used. The relative width of the bars and spaces is
determined by the type of symbology used, and the actual size of
the bars and spaces is usually determined by the application.

• The number of characters per inch represented by the
barcode symbol is referred to as the density of the symbol.
• A barcode normally includes several barcode characters. A
barcode character is a group of lines (bars) and spacings
that represent a single number or letter.
• A barcode symbol consists of a series of light and dark
regions, typically in the form of rectangles. The widths of
the dark regions, the bars, and/or the widths of the light
spaces between the bars indicate the encoded information.
• A barcode symbol is a collection of several barcode
characters which represent an identification of a particular
object.

• Typically, the barcode symbol includes a quiet zone, start
code or pattern data characters, stop code, and trailing
quiet zone. Different bar codes have different information
densities and contain a different number of elements in a
given area representing different amounts of encoded data.
The denser the code is, the smaller the elements and
spacings.
• A typical one dimensional (1D) barcode includes a series
of parallel lines and spaces of varying widths which in
accordance with known conventions may be used to
represent desired information relating to the item. A two
dimensional (2D) barcode provides more complex lines
and spaces in two orthogonal axes for representing even
more information regarding an item than is available in 1D
barcodes.
• Although simple and cost-effective to implement, 1-D
barcodes are limited in the amount of data they can contain
by the size of the product they are printed on and the
linearity of the code itself.
• With the growing pressure for factories, shipping
companies, retail outlets, government agencies, and
hospitals to better track and trace their inventory and
monitor and protect their customers, increasingly
sophisticated barcode symbologies and scanners are now
needed. Thus, Symbol, Intermec, and others have invested
in linear and 2D symbols and scanners that offer greater
functionality than traditional 1D scanners.

• In a 2D barcode, the information is stacked or arranged in
an array of dark and light square pixels that can hold more
than a kilobyte of machine-readable data and are scanned
both horizontally and vertically. Standard 2D barcodes are
smaller and more flexible than their 1D counterparts,
making them more amenable to applications such as
hospital wristbands while also boosting their anti-
counterfeiting capabilities. In addition, the scanners
required to read them typically offer more advanced
imaging capabilities such as optical character recognition,
signature capture, and image capture via embedded CCD
or CMOS cameras.

UPS MaxiCode
Maxicode is developed by
the biggest delivery company
in the world, UPS. It is used
for sorting or tracking
deliveries.
The Maxicode has a triple
circle of the discriminative
finder pattern on its center.
With this triple circle, a
reader instantaneously
recognizes the position of a
2D code. It is suitable for
high-speed reading and is
used for sorting in conveyor
lines, especially in the United
States.

Barcode Scanners
• Barcode scanners generally fall into two categories:
handheld and stationary.
– Handheld scanners include laser scanners, linear imagers (with
LEDs as the primary light source), 2D imagers, and pen scanners.
– Stationary systems range from industrial lasers and imagers to
point-of-service scanners and barcode verifiers.

• There are four main types of barcode scanners / readers:
– Pen-type Readers
Pen type readers scan or read a barcode

by emitting visible red or infrared light
such as from an LED which strikes the
barcode while the scanner is moved
across the barcode in a linear direction
with the tip of the scanner touching the
bar code label.
Pen type barcode readers have a light
source and a photo diode placed next to
each other in the tip of a pen or wand.

• To read a barcode, the tip of the pen moves across the bars
in a steady motion.
• The photodiode measures the intensity of the light
reflected back from the light source and generates a
waveform that is used to measure the widths of the bars
and spaces in the barcode.
• Dark bars in the barcode absorb light and white spaces
reflect light so that the voltage waveform generated by the
photo diode is a representation of the bar and space pattern
in the barcode.
• The barcode reader sends the waveform to the decoder,
which decodes this waveform in a manner similar to the
way Morse code dots and dashes are decoded.
• The decoded information is sent to the computer in a
traditional data format.
Laser Scanner

• Laser scanners work the same way as pen-type readers except that
they use a laser beam as the light source and typically employ
either a reciprocating mirror or a rotating mirror to scan the laser
beam back and forth across the bar code (1).
• As with the pen type reader, a photodiode is used to measure the
intensity of the light of diffuse reflection from the bar code (2).
• In both pen readers and laser scanners, the light emitted by the
reader is tuned to a specific frequency and the photodiode is
designed to detect only this modulated light of the same
frequency.
• This diffuse reflection looks like an analog wave form (3) which
the barcode reader coverts to a digital wave form (4). The
narrow/wide bars and spaces are identified (5) and then the signal
combination of the bars and spaces is converted into data
according to the barcode rules (6).
• Oscillating mirrors are used in hand-held scanners and
rotating mirrors are used in fixed-mounted scanners.
Why? The answer gives considerable insight into the
design and operation of this mechatronic marvel.
– Oscillating mirrors use less power and survive shocks and drops
better, making them suitable for hand held scanners.
– An oscillating mirror also fits in a smaller space, which is an
important consideration for a hand held scanner.
– More importantly, however, since the moving mass of an
oscillating mirror is so much less then a rotating polygon, it can be
accelerated to full speed much more rapidly, with a minimum
surge current (important since many scanners are battery operated).
– In hand-held scanners, the scan motor is turned off after each
barcode is decoded, and started up again the next time the trigger is
pulled, so the motor has to start up very fast if a 50 ms decode time
is to be achieved, which feels almost instantaneous to a user.

– Another interesting fact about these oscillating motors is that,
unlike other mechanical devices, they have no inherent failure
mechanism. People expect that any mechanical device will
ultimately fail, even if it isn't abused. This perception is based on
the fact that most mechanisms use bearings which will ultimately
fail due to friction. Since oscillating motors have no bearings, they
have no friction.
– You might expect that the flexing part of the motor will ultimately
fatigue and fail just as most things will eventually break if you
bend them back and forth enough. In fact, if the mechanical
stresses in a flexing member are kept below a threshold, failure
from fatigue can be totally avoided. Oscillating motors are
therefore designed to operate well below this threshold.
– This extreme reliability is central to the ability to sell an
inexpensive scanner with a long warrantee. If the failure rate
wasn't close to zero, the cost of servicing them would
consume profits.

– Rotating polygon mirrors are generally used in fixed-mounted
scanners even though they cannot achieve the essentially infinite
operational life of the oscillating mirrors.
– The main reason is that a rotating polygon can scan the laser beam
over a much larger angle then an oscillating mirror can, and can
also produce many more scan lines per second.
– For example, with a four-sided rotating polygon mirror, the laser
beam is scanned four times for every 360 degree rotation of the
scan motor (one scan as each of the four mirror surfaces intercepts
the incoming laser beam). A four-sided polygon will scan the
beam over an angle of 180 degrees before it rotates so far that the
next mirror moves into the laser beam and the next scan begins.
This wide scan angle is very useful when creating an omni-
directional laser scanner (a scanner that can read a barcode in any
orientation).

– These scanners need to project an array of scan lines in different
orientations so as to read a barcode in whatever orientation it is presented
to the scanner. These multiple scan lines are created by scanning the laser
(using the rotating polygon) over an array of stationary mirrors, which
divide up the 180 degree scan line from the polygon into smaller angular
segments and project them out of the scanner in different orientations.
The wide scan angle of the rotating polygon is necessary here or it
wouldn't be possible to scan across the entire array of stationary mirrors.
– The high speed of the rotating polygon is also useful in these scanners.
Omni-directional scanners, such as the scanners used in supermarkets,
must be able to read barcodes that might be in any orientation, while the
barcode is moving rapidly through the field of view of the scanner. The
scanner must therefore produce scan lines in every orientation in a very
short period of time to be sure that the barcode is decoded, regardless of
its orientation.

– In one omni-directional scanner, for example, the four sided
polygon is spinning at 4500 RPM (75 revolutions/second). Each
of the four scans that result from each revolution is scanned over a
stationary array of five mirrors, creating five scan lines from each
line produced by the polygon. This arrangement therefore
produces a total of 1500 scan lines/second (75 revolutions/second
times 4 scans per revolution times 5 stationary mirrors).

Specular Reflection vs. Diffuse Reflection

• If you mount the barcode reader so that its laser is applied
perpendicular to the barcode label (specular reflection
mounting) as shown, the barcode reader receives
excessively strong reflection (specular reflection or direct
reflection) from the bar code label. In this type of
mounting, some level of the analog waveform is extremely
high, causing improper conversion into a digital waveform.
As a result, bar codes cannot be read with specular
reflection mounting.
• If you mount the bar code reader at a skew angle (i.e., tilt
the barcode reader at an angle of 10-15 degrees), the whole
light beam results in diffuse reflection, allowing for proper
conversion from an analog waveform into the digital
waveform as shown.

CCD Barcode Reader

• CCD readers (also referred to LED scanners) use an array
of hundreds of tiny light sensors lined up in a row in the
head of the reader. Each sensor can be thought of as a
single photodiode that measures the intensity of the light
immediately in front of it. Each individual light sensor in
the CCD reader is extremely small and because there are
hundreds of sensors lined up in a row, a voltage pattern
identical to the pattern in a barcode is generated in the
reader by sequentially measuring the voltages across each
sensor in the row. The important difference between a
CCD reader and a pen or laser scanner is that the CCD
reader is measuring emitted ambient light from the barcode
whereas pen or laser scanners are measuring reflected light
of a specific frequency originating from the scanner itself.

1. The LED for the light source radiates light onto a barcode. At this
time, the LED flashes in pulses which is advantageous when reading
a moving object.
2. The CCD image sensor receives the light of diffuse reflection from
the barcode as an image. Although the LED radiates light onto a
wide range, the reflection received as the image is only the one
reflected from the light-receiving axis (line). The barcode reader
cannot read a barcode if it is not on the light-receiving axis.
3. The barcode reader scans the image data of the barcode on the CCD
image sensor from edge to edge to obtain the analog waveform. The
obtained waveforms represent the scan rate of the CCD barcode
reader. A high scan rate ensures stable readings.
4. The barcode reader converts the analog waveforms to digital
waveforms (A/D conversion).
5. The barcode reader converts the obtained digital waveforms into data
according to the barcode rules (decoding).

• Camera-Based Reader
– 2D imaging scanners are the newest type of barcode
reader and are becoming more popular due to increased
data carrying ability.
– They use a small video camera to capture an image of a
barcode. The reader then uses digital image processing
techniques to decode the barcode.
– Video cameras use the same CCD technology as in a
CCD barcode reader except that instead of having a
single row of sensors, a video camera has hundreds of
rows of sensors arranged in a two-dimensional array so
that they can generate an image.

Comparison: Laser vs. CCD
The laser-type scanner, while larger and more expensive,

has significant advantages over the CCD-type scanner
including long-distance reading, a wide readable range, the
ability to scan moving objects, and the possibility of raster
(multiple) scanning.

• What are the Benefits of Barcode Systems, i.e., barcode,
scanner, software, and computer?
– Improved Operational Efficiency
• Since barcodes permit faster and more accurate recording of
information, work in process can move quickly and be tracked
precisely. Quite a bit of time can be spent tracking down the
location or status of projects, folders, instruments, materials, or
anything else that moves within an organization. Barcodes
help one keep better track so one can save time and respond
more quickly to inquiries and changes.
– Save Time
• Depending on the application, time savings can be significant.
Often the most dramatic examples involve the chore of taking
inventory, but even in routine day-to-day operations the time
savings of barcodes add up and improve productivity.

– Reduce Errors
• Clerical and data-entry errors can be a significant source of costs
and related problems and in some situations clerical errors can have
a much more dramatic impact – consider the importance of accuracy
in pharmaceutical or blood bank applications.
• The typical error rate for human data entry is 1 error per 300
characters. Barcode scanners are much more accurate; the error rate
can be as good as 1 error in 36 trillion characters depending on the
type of barcode used.
– Cut Costs
• Barcodes are effective tools that can be used to address specific,
localized problems or integrated into organization-wide information
systems. When applied with thought and planning they can save
time and reduce errors, resulting in a reduction of costs.
– Customer or Regulatory Requirements
• Regulatory agencies or customers may impose labeling
requirements that can easily be met with barcodes.

Web Cast Part 2
Barcode Scanner
Uncovered

Handheld Barcode Scanner
2D bar code
1D bar code

Barcode Scanner

Overhead View: Cover Removed
Image
Sensor
Front
Window Back
Laser Mirror

Overhead View: Path of Laser Light OUT
(photo lightened)
To
Barcode
Laser Mirror

Overhead View: Path of Light from Barcode IN
(photo lightened)
Image
Sensor
From
Barcode
Mirror

Overhead View: Closer
Image
Front Back
Sensor
Laser Solenoid
Mirror
Mirror
Mirror

View of mirror with central laser-reflecting mirror
Mirror
reflecting
laser
light out
Mirror
collecting light
reflected from
barcode

Another view of central laser-reflecting mirror
(removed from board)
Mirror collecting Mirror reflecting
light reflected from laser light out
barcode
Image
sensor
Bar Code Scanner Barcode Laser K. Craig & M. Nagurka 50
Image
Sensor
Laser
Back of Back of
Mirror Mirror
Solenoid to
oscillate mirror

Flexural Flexural
stiffness stiffness
Two coils:
(1) electromagnet to
oscillate mirror &
Magnetic
(2) coil to sense
plunger
frequency
Image
Sensor
Laser
Adjustment
for aiming
laser

Laser & Image Sensor Cover
Laser
photodiode
630-680 nm laser
with 1.0 mW output
Class 2
Laser
Image Sensor
Cover

Image Sensor Uncovered
Lens in
front of
Image
Sensor
Reflected off mirror

from barcode
Image Sensor Uncovered
Image
Sensor
(with
lens
removed)

Mechatronic System Design
• What is Mechatronic about barcode scanners?
– The scanner is an example of a mechatronic system: image
sensor, actuator, optics, electronics, computer control – all
integrated from the very beginning of the design!
• A barcode scanner is part of a higher level mechatronic system
comprised of the barcode itself, the scanner, and the computer
software and hardware that processes the information.
• Clearly this is an integrated multidisciplinary engineering
system that could only have been designed with a mechatronic
approach by a team led by a mechatronics engineer.

Web Cast Part 3
What’s Next ?
Future of Barcode Scanners

Future of Barcode Scanners
• Barcodes and barcode scanners have been around for over three
decades and will be around for many more.
• However, there are concerns that barcodes are vulnerable to
security breaches and counterfeiting. Increasing pressure to
ensure the country of origin for products and the authenticity of
those products is pushing businesses to adopt more-
sophisticated tracking technologies.
• RFID (radio-frequency identification) is designed to further
increase the amount and complexity of data that can be
encoded, the security of that data, and the authenticity of the
item the code or chip is attached to.

• It costs about $0.005 to implement a barcode compared to
a passive radio frequency identification device which costs
about $0.07 to $0.30 per tag.
• So barcodes are basically free, but RF tags are not and
probably never will be.
• Also RFID doesn’t work well on some types of packages,
e.g., metal cans, and barcode scanners are selective while
RFID devices might capture data not intended for capture.
• So while there has been much speculation that RFID might
eventually replace conventional barcodes, the general
consensus is that the two methods will remain
complementary for many years to come.

• The success of the modern barcode scanner is based on a
combination of small size, high scanning performance, and
superior reliability.
• Over the past 2-3 years, a number of new developments
have become available which have the potential to
significantly increase the performance of the scan engine.
• Liquid Polymer (LP) Scan Element
– This patented technology eliminates friction and wear
and is so reliable that Symbol Technologies (now owned
by Motorola) offers a lifetime warranty!
– This scanning technology has been configured for use in
small scan engines.

In a scan element, liquid Liquid Polymer Scan Element
polymer is used to create a
single-piece structure that
includes rigid and flexible
portions. The rigid portions
are used to mount the scan
element. A mirror and magnet
are mounted on the flexible
portion, which can be moved
magnetically to scan a laser.
The liquid-polymer element
can be fabricated in high
volume, at low cost, and with
consistent quality with a
process that is similar to
conventional injection
molding.

– One of the primary factors affecting the effectiveness of
laser scanner engines is the speed of the laser beam
movement. Too slow, and the scanner may seem
unresponsive to the experienced user. As scan speed
increases, however, the signals that the scanner must process
also increase in frequency, making it more difficult to
distinguish these signals from non-barcode related noise. As
a result, the working range of the scanner may be restricted.
– Earlier miniature laser engines operated at speeds of around
50 scans per second. The LP scan element is designed to
operate at 100 scans per second - fast enough to make the
scanner feel extremely responsive, but not so fast as to
compromise the signal quality and limit the working range.

• Moving vs. Stationary Collection Optics
– The primary function of a laser scanning device is to move
the laser beam back and forth. A few high performance
scanners also use the scan element to move the optics that
collect and concentrate the laser light reflected off the
barcode. Moving the collection optics in coordination
with the laser beam allows the scanner to reject unwanted
light, such as sunlight, which can mask the laser signal.
Moving collection optics require the use of a large scan
mirror, because the larger the mirror, the more light can be
collected and the greater the working range of the scanner.

• Multi-Focus Laser Optics
– Lasers are famous for their ability to project a beam of
light over a long distance without the beam diverging
(spreading out), as light from other light sources does.
Although laser light can be focused to diverge much
less than other light sources, divergence cannot be
totally eliminated. It is this unavoidable divergence
that is one of the things that limits the working range of
laser scanners, especially when scanning barcodes with
narrow bars or spaces. When the laser beam diverges
too much at a distance from the scanner, the scanner
can no longer resolve small bars and spaces, so a bar
code with small bars and spaces cannot be decoded
beyond that distance.

– Special laser focusing optics have been developed that
have the ability to counteract divergence of the laser
beyond that which can be accomplished with
conventional optics.
– The shape of the laser beam is also controlled so as to
project an elliptical laser spot on the barcode, as
opposed to a conventional circular spot. The elliptical
spot helps the scanner ignore defects in the printed bar
code, improving performance on damaged and poorly
printed barcodes.

• Parallel Signal Processing with Variable Resolution
– One potential advantage of high scan speed is that it can
give a scanner more attempts to read a damaged barcode,
increasing the chances that it will read quickly.
Unfortunately, increasing the scan speed also degrades
signal quality, which can actually make it more difficult to
read some bar codes of marginal quality. This loss of
signal quality partially cancels any advantage that might be
expected from the higher scan speed. New approaches to
consistently obtain a rapid decode without degrading
signal quality are being developed.

– For example, a scan engine can use two individual
signal processing circuits, each optimized to read
different kinds of barcodes. One is designed to read
damaged or poorly printed barcodes, while the other
excels at reading high density bar codes. Both circuits
can also easily process the signals from good quality
barcodes. The outputs from both of these processing
circuits are available to the decoder on every scan, so
even though the scanner is running at 100 scans per
second, the decoder gets 200 chances to decode the bar
code every second.

– The two signal processors are designed to complement
each other, so one, the other, or both will succeed in
decoding the vast majority of barcodes. In the event
that a barcode is extremely disfigured, however, the
scanner can automatically adjust both circuits to further
improve the probability of obtaining a rapid decode.
• For example, if the barcode is badly scratched, the
resolution of the signal processing circuits can be
reduced, enabling the scanner to ignore the defects.
When scanning bar codes with very narrow bars or
spaces down to around 4 mils (0.004 in.), resolution
is increased to assure accurate detection of every bar
and space in the barcode.

• Adaptive Electronics
– When a scanner is positioned close to a bar code, there is a
lot of reflected laser light for the scanner to detect,
producing a strong signal for the signal processing circuitry
to work with. As distance between the scanner and bar code
increases, however, the amount of reflected laser light and
resulting signal is smaller and weaker. As it becomes
weaker, it is more susceptible to being masked by various
types of electrical noise. Sources of electrical noise that
may degrade a scanner’s performance come from other
electronic devices that may be positioned close to the
scanner or even by the same power supply as the scanner.
The circuitry within the scanner itself also produces some
unavoidable noise, which can ultimately limit the working
range of a scanner.

– New scanners include circuitry that automatically
adjusts to compensate for signal variations that result
from scanning from different distances, and from
scanning barcodes with different print contrasts, in
order to maintain the signal applied to the signal
processing circuits at an optimum level. The scan
engine also includes automatically varying filters to
remove noise that might otherwise degrade scanning
performance.

• MEMS-Based Barcode Scanner
– A MEMS-based barcode scanner is being developed. It is
claimed that MEMS technology produces a laser scan engine
with faster scan rates, miniaturization, improved durability,
and frictionless mechanical parts.
– The MEMS design also allows high-speed scanning in two
dimensions, omni-directional reading of 1D and stacked
barcodes, and 2D raster scanning for matrix codes.
– The advantages claimed for MEMS devices are that it is solid
state, which means it has less chance of failing and lends
itself to mass production. The mirror is made to oscillate 250
times/sec and starts at 400 scans/sec, but can go up to 5000
scans/sec, while conventional electro-mechanical mirrors
operate at 30 to 40 scans/s.

– The question is which technology offers better signal quality
and working range, lower cost, and greater reliability.
– A MEMS system needs a separate optical system to collect the
light, in addition to the optical system that projects the light.
One view is that this is one way to go, but maybe not the best
way to make a scanner because it doesn’t allow you to
optimize the receiving signal.
– A larger scanning mirror than is possible to create using
MEMS allows one to collect the light off the same mirror and
then concentrate the photodetector wherever the laser beam
happens to be pointing at the moment. In the MEMS design
there is a second mirror that does not move so it has to have a
very large field of view, which means it collects not only the
reflected laser light but also a lot of ambient light. And that is
noise as far as the scanner is concerned.

References
• Ed Barkan, Motorola Fellow and holder of over 216
barcode scanner patents. Co-inventor of the hand-held laser
scanner patented in 1979. Telephone conversation.
• Kathy Kincade, July 2006, Barcode Scanners Aren’t Just
for Groceries Anymore, Laser Focus World Magazine.
• Motorola White Paper: New Technologies Drive Superior
Scan Performance

Survey Questions
• The Barcode Scanner is a mechatronic system that impacts

our lives as much any technology ever developed.
• What other mechatronic systems have impacted our lives?
• How is the integration required for a mechatronic system
such as this implemented in your company?
• How is the control system design done? In an integrated
way or as after-thought add-on?
• What skills do you feel you are lacking that you would urge
young engineers to focus on?

THANK YOU!

Unit 5 (C)

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Unit 5 (C)

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A Mechatronic

Dr. Kevin Craig & Dr. Mark Nagurka

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Pen type readers scan or read a barcode

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The laser-type scanner, while larger and more expensive,

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Reflected off mirror

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• The Barcode Scanner is a mechatronic system that impacts

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