Monson's Servo Auto Scanner

[jck57]

Thanks, Gerard. Yes, when I checked I found slight deflection when the shutter is pressed. I think the problem can be solved without covering the battery door by using a stronger material than Masonite for the base and by decreasing the force on the shutter button. For the first idea I plan to remake the base with dense plywood. For the second idea I made a spring arm as shown in the pics below. The servo is controlled by an Arduino which I am already using to control the other servos in the auto scanner. So this was an easy choice for me. In the Mechanical Triggers thread, others have rewired servos for use as mechanical triggers so they can be operated without a microprocessor. Cheers.

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[jck57]

Video shows updates: Camera mounts and triggers, feed roller paper pusher with improved spring adjustment, skate bearings on cradle. Overhead light made from microphone boom, loc-line, and two cheapo LED floods from an after-Christmas sale.

[aeturneus]

Video shows updates: Camera mounts and triggers, feed roller paper pusher with improved spring adjustment, skate bearings on cradle. Overhead light made from microphone boom, loc-line, and two cheapo LED floods from an after-Christmas sale.

Wow, so much going on here.

Is the cradle self-adjusting now?

Does the page turning mechanism work well on all parts of the book (from first page to the last page) in combination with the (self-adjusting?) cradle?

How easily does it adjust to different sized books? Different types of paper? Does the spring adjustment work well to accommodate thin and light paper?

How reliable is the page turner?

I noticed that the hold downs don't necessarily ensure each page is flat - I expect this is probably unavoidable with the platenless design? Have you thought about integrating a platen, or how this would be done?

Great work, Monson. Certainly the most advanced DIY automated bookscanner yet. The video is mesmerizing.

[rob]

Wow. Just wow. That is completely mesmerizing. It just goes and goes and goes, and keeps turning pages, and turning pages, and turning pages! I suspect the biggest issue is still at the ends of the books, though. There must be some way to somehow sense in what direction and by how much the spine is pulling, and adjust automatically... but how?

[dtic]

This is amazing work! Very impressive how you keep improving and tweaking the components. The wheel on the page pushing arm looks very effective. I see no motor controlling it, it's not spinning free but it still moves I think. Have you only fastened it hard enough with the wingnut (if so, wouldn't it jiggle loose after a number of repetitions?) or is there some other part I'm missing? I'm really looking forward to hear som stats on how reliably it performs.

[jck57]

New mounts for pressers and pusher ease adjustment and help get pages to lie flat. Tweaked Arduino script has both pressers pushing down on crease at the same time right before cameras fire. This reduces page bulging and helps re-center cradle. Rob wanted to see first and last few pages getting turned. The feed roller is just bolted on the pusher arm. It doesn't rotate

[dtic]

Wow, that script tweak worked well. The pages look flat enough for ScanTailor to dewarp without problem - if dewarping is at all needed.

What are the advantages with the feed roller compared to the "finger" on you last version of the scanner? More durable?

Did you check the shots after the whole book run? Any missing pages? If not then I'd think yours is the first DIY auto page turner in the history of the world that completes a whole book and does so without missing any pages. That is really something!

As a sidenote: I ran the two youtube videos on this pages at the same time. The combined servo noise made it sound like a flock of birds by the sea.

[jck57]

Wow, that script tweak worked well.

Yeah that was the overlapping script thing you gave me.

The pages look flat enough for ScanTailor to dewarp without problem - if dewarping is at all needed.

Never tried ScanTailor but my 400 buck Abbyy FineReader Professional is pretty good with bent pages. For that kind of money it better be.

What are the advantages with the feed roller compared to the "finger" on you last version of the scanner? More durable?

More contact area and the right kind of rubber. Couple of guys here (can't remember names) who work with printers recommended feed rollers.

Did you check the shots after the whole book run? Any missing pages? If not then I'd think yours is the first DIY auto page turner in the history of the world that completes a whole book and does so without missing any pages. That is really something!

Heh. Had no cards in the cameras, though it wouldn't surprise me if it missed a couple. The page picking deal is sensitive. I'm finding there is a big difference in paper, requiring a broad range of adjustment on feed roller downforce spring. Too light and the roller skates. Too heavy and it pushes more than one page.

[jck57]

Added a servo to flatten pages.

[jck57]

Made a flattener arm out of 1/4" Loc-Line and 1/4" OD poly tubing.