After the invention of hyperpaper, I began to scan my books. Soon I found out that what I expected was true -- It was awesomely BOREING!
If this drudgery were to be automated!
Scanning a book involves picking up the book from the scanner carefully so that you won't change the current pages, and turning pages precisely. These activities are as easy as breakfast for human beings. However, our sophisticated biomachienery owe a lot to the Evolution. Without its support, the activities are far too difficult for robots.
Or, everyone had been thinking so, until I found ...
that a scratch of an eraser can turn a page, and
that if you place the scanner upside down you don't need to flip the book,
and changed the subjunctive mood into past tense.
Behold! The work is now complete.
Once started, the machine opens the each page of the book and scans the content. The whole process is automatic.
The lesson of this story is that LEGO is great.
The Shuttle module has a frame to contain the scanner. It has 2 motors: one for driving, one for operating the Glider module.
The Glider module is hanging down from the shuttle with 2 kite strings. 2 wheel stick to the page of the book. 5 yen coins are attatched for weight. They also give a grip to the end of the page. (For foreigners: A 5 yen coin has a hole and is quite useful as such weight for a handicraft. Please find an alternative. ) The Glider module is designed adjustable against many types of books.
The Balance module has double arms to keep the two dish horizontal. Place the book you want to scan on the red dish. Place a suitable counterweight on the gray dish. The gray dish has a motor that can wind a kitestring. The other end of the string is fixed to a solid weight. The Balance module lifts up/down by winding the string.
A built-in mini USB mouse detects the lift event. The red dish right-clicks the mouse. Thus, a release of mouse right button means that after about 5 second the book will be in position ready for scan.
This controller can be programmed for a routine work for 3 motors, but cannot judge nor reason.
The notebook pc is programmed so that when it detects the right mouse release, it sends key strokes to Windows Scanner and Camera Wizard. Here is the program I wrote for the control.
The scanner used here is EPSON GT-7200U. Of course you don't need the same model; Just modify the Lego modules suitable for your scanner. Digital Camera may be better.
EPSON GT-7200U (And many scanners) does not work in upside down state. The floor of such scanner is flat but the roof is not. For my case: I attached a lego block rail to my scanner's roofcover. Then it began to work upside down.
Dismantlation is dangerous! You may harm yourself or the scanner. Do at your own risk.
The rack is to hold the scanner in the right position. You may find a fitting one at your garage, in shop, or you can build one.
The other end of the kitestring from the Balance is tied to the printer.
The bulding instructions for the Full Auto Book Scanner was created with help of LeoCAD .
Most of the LEGO bricks are from LEGO 8485, which is obsolete today. I recommend using LEGO Mindstorm instead.
Be careful not to harm the scanner's glass window. Cover the contact points between the machine and the scanner by soft materials.
Current model needs careful operation. Extend the arms of the Balance module to afford a wider space of operation.
Copyright (C) MURANUSHI Takayuki, 14 Feb, 2006
Considering the fact that arrangement of LEGO blocks has much more value than LEGO block themselves, just like arrangement of electrons in computer has much more value than electrons, to protect the profit and joy of building LEGO models and sharing them from being monopolized by anyone, as they rightly are not now, I publish this machine under the GNU General Public License. In the GNU License, 'The source code' or 'the preferred form of the work for making modifications to it.' will mean a building instruction in LEGO building instruction format. Or 'source code' may mean machine itself, as long as the machine is as easy to unbuild and guess how it is built as a LEGO model is.
With this inherited GNU GPL LEGO common materials.