4 Hours Ago I had Junk and Now I have

[lmp1054]

Hey Guys,

This morning I woke up and decided to man up and build one of these things, without investing any cash.... just the thing i already have....

So the stuff I used was, a milk crate i cut up, a 25 lb weight 2 large ceramic tiles, a 11x14 glass from picture frames, a tripod a old broken desk lamp and my canon a590


Well i guess my reasoning behind this is, I'm a engineering student and I work... A lot of hours, and there is time at work, were I have time to actually sneak in some studying hours for school, I am a intern and my employer is understanding, and as long as my work is not suffering then he is okay with it, but i do not want to make it obvious that I intended to study at work, bringing a giant backpack and having my text books spreed out all over my desk, i consider over steeping my bosses generosity. This is why i want to be able to put my text book onto a digital copy and minimize the amount of "stuff" i need to do my class work. So i can have my computer in my office with my text book while, i rewrite my notes or do my homework.

I have tried to download pirated copies of my textbook, but 99% of the time my text book have not been pirated, and since all homework assignments are based of the text books, i end up out of luck.

Most of this is just me justifying the amount of time and maybe even money spent on the project

my failed Platen, i'm still working on it, it drying right now.


My Work Bench


The rig




My Results




I'll invest more time on searching the board for improvements but input would be greatly appreciated.

[rob]

It looks pretty damn good to me. My only suggestions would be to either paint the cradle black or cover it with something black and not shiny, and to increase your lighting, open your aperture, or slow down your shutter speed in order to get brighter images. Try to get more uniform lighting by using more than one light.

Aside from that, it looks like the output is usable!

[daniel_reetz]

More light is a great idea - it will definitely improve your images. I can also suggest that you use epoxy or industrial hot glue to help bond things along with your zip-ties... that is, if sturdiness is a problem. Cheers on your first scanner, it looks great.

[Tim]

You might like the cardboard cradle linked from this thread: http://diybookscanner.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=473
Basically a cardboard box with two pieces cut off, yielding two right triangular prism shaped pieces. The benefit is that you can spread them apart to accommodate the book spine/binding, allowing you to press your platen closer to the binding and not be in danger of missing those areas. Or in your current build, you could set up something that holds each tile up far enough so that the gap between them is the same as the thickness of the book spine.

[lmp1054]

Here the latest, i stopped for awhile

I broke the 65 watt halogen flood light bulb so i started using does natural light bulbs its brighter but the pictures come out darker any help?





I added a cheap clamp light

[lmp1054]

Added a additional light, and adjusted setting on camera

[univurshul]

good job. excellent use of resources. The crate is bueno. I Like seeing another builder use the crate.

[lmp1054]

So far quality of prints is BELOW what i would like, I'm using scan Taylor which is a incredible software. The problem is some of the text is not coming out readable and i'm averaging 17pg a hour. I think the addition of a second camera will increase pages per hour.

GOAL: 300 PAGES PER HOUR Collapsible Book Scanner.

Problems:
Time: Quality of prints make it so I have to go manually edit in Scan Taylor and sometimes in Photoshop, 17 pages per hour mean a 1400 textbook will take 83hours
Machine: Needs constant adjustments and a large open surface.
Camera: Quality of prints is okay but single camera not working

Solutions:
Time: Adding a additional camera will double pages per minute. Increase lighting and add rigid camera stands, with remote shutter (if possible). Create a adjustable stand, this will make it so prints come out more uniform and scan taylor will require less adjustment and less editing in Photoshop. A Plates on a swing arm will greatly decrease setup time.

Machine: Throwing away current rig starting from scratch, i need something that can "Fold Away" and be stored maybe under a bed, and require very little setup time.

Camera: Will look into viable camera solutions, would like remote shutter, if not purchase another A950 for cheap on ebay.

[lmp1054]

Ive invested enough time, but now i'm investing so money. i already purchased 2 7in screen to use as external screens on the camera, and am looking for a cheap A590. Will be working on base and setup tomorrow

[lmp1054]

Okay Now I'm deeply invested

I have already spent $100 on two 7in lcd screens, and aditional a490 camera. So my setup will have 2 cameras and external screens to setup images working on trigger mechanism now.

Will be building the new platon today