Computer Integrated Manufacturing and

Robotics
(IPPC-307)
Data Acquisition and Database Management System

Dr. Bikash Kumar

Assistant Professor, IPE Department
National Institute of Technology Jalandhar
Email: [email protected]

DR. B. R. AMBEDKAR
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
JALANDHAR
(An Institute of National Importance, established by MHRD)
DETAILED SYLLABUS

• Data Acquisition and Database Management Systems: (a)

Data acquisition system, type of data, automatic data
identification methods, bar code technology, machine
vision.(b) Data and database management system, database
design requirements, types of DBMS models- hierarchical,
network and relational models and their applications.

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Automatic identification and data capture
(AIDC)
• It refers to technologies that provide direct entry of data
into a computer or other microprocessor-controlled system
without using a keyboard.
• Many of these technologies require no human involvement
in the data capture and entry process.
• Automatic identification systems are being used increasingly
to collect data in material handling and manufacturing
applications.
• In material handling, the applications include shipping and
receiving, storage, sortation, order picking, and kitting of
parts for assembly.

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• In manufacturing, the applications include monitoring the
status of order processing, work-in-process, machine
utilization, worker attendance, and other measures of
factory operations and performance.
• Of course, AIDC has many important applications outside
the factory, including retail sales and inventory control,
warehousing and distribution center operations, mail and
parcel handling, patient identification in hospitals, check
processing in banks, and security systems.

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• The alternative to automatic data capture is manual collection
and entry of data. This typically involves a worker recording the
data on paper and later entering them into the computer by
means of a keyboard. There are several drawbacks to this
method:
1. Errors occur in both data collection and keyboard entry of the
data when it is accomplished manually. The average error rate
of manual keyboard entry is one error per 300 characters.
2. Time factor. Manual methods are inherently more time
consuming than automated methods. Also, when manual
methods are used, there is a time delay between when the
activities and events occur and when the data on status are
entered into the computer.
3. Labor cost. The full attention of human workers is required in
manual data collection and entry, with the associated labor
cost.

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• These drawbacks are virtually eliminated when automatic
identification and data capture are used. With AIDC, the
data on activities, events, and conditions are acquired at the
location and time of their occurrence and entered into the
computer immediately or shortly thereafter.
• Automatic data capture is often associated with the material
handling industry.
• The AIDC industry trade association, the Automatic
Identification Manufacturers Association (AIM), started as
an affiliate of the Material Handling Institute, Inc. Many of
the applications of this technology relate to material
handling.
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AUTOMATIC IDENTIFICATION METHODS
1. Data encoder. A code is a set of symbols or signals that
usually represent alphanumeric characters. When data are
encoded, the characters are translated into a machine-
readable code. (For most AIDC techniques, the encoded
data are not readable by humans.) A label or tag
containing the encoded data is attached to the item that is
to be identified.
2. Machine reader or scanner. This device reads the encoded
data, converting them to alternative form, usually an
electrical analog signal.
3. Data decoder. This component transforms the electrical
signal into digital data and finally back into the original
alphanumeric characters.

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• Many different technologies are used to implement automated
identification and data collection. Within the category of bar
codes alone (currently the leading AIDC technology), more than
250 different bar code schemes have been devised. AIDC
technologies can be divided into the following six categories:
1. Optical. Most of these technologies use high-contrast graphical
symbols that can be interpreted by an optical scanner. They
include linear (one-dimensional) and two dimensional bar
codes, optical character recognition, and machine vision.
2. Electromagnetic. The important AIDC technology in this group
is radio frequency identification (RFID), which uses a small
electronic tag capable of holding more data than a bar code.
Its applications are gaining on bar codes due to several
mandates from companies like Walmart and from the U.S.
Department of Defense.
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3. Magnetic. These technologies encode data magnetically,
similar to recording tape. The two important techniques in this
category are (a) magnetic stripe, widely used in plastic credit
cards and bank access cards, and (b) magnetic ink character
recognition, widely used in the banking industry for check
processing.
4. Smart card. This term refers to small plastic cards (the size of a
credit card) imbedded with microchips capable of containing
large amounts of information. Other terms used for this
technology include chip card and integrated circuit card.
5. Touch techniques. These include touch screens and button
memory.
6. Biometric. These technologies are utilized to identify humans
or to interpret vocal commands of humans. They include voice
recognition, fingerprint analysis, and retinal eye scans.
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BAR CODE TECHNOLOGY

• As mentioned previously, bar codes divide into two basic

types: (1) linear, in which the encoded data are read using a
linear sweep of the scanner, and (2) two-dimensional, in
which the encoded data must be read in both directions.

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Linear (One-Dimensional) Bar Codes

• Linear bar codes are the most widely used automatic

identification and data capture technique.
• There are actually two forms of linear bar code symbologies,
(a) width-modulated, in which the symbol consists of bars and
spaces of varying width; and
(b) height-modulated, in which the symbol consists of evenly
spaced bars of varying height.
• In linear width-modulated bar code technology, the symbol
consists of a sequence of wide and narrow colored bars
separated by wide and narrow spaces (the colored bars are
usually black and the spaces are white for high contrast).

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• Bar code readers interpret the code by scanning and
decoding the sequence of bars.
• The reader consists of the scanner and decoder. The scanner
emits a beam of light that is swept past the bar code (either
manually or automatically) and senses light reflections to
distinguish between the bars and spaces.
• The light reflections are sensed by a photodetector, which
converts the spaces into an electrical signal and the bars
into absence of an electrical signal.
• The width of the bars and spaces is indicated by the
duration of the corresponding signals.
• The decoder analyses the pulse train to validate and
interpret the corresponding data.
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• The procedure is depicted in Figure

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Two-Dimensional Bar Codes
• The first two-dimensional (2-D) bar code was introduced in
1987. Since then, more than a dozen 2-D symbol schemes
have been developed, and the number is expected to
increase.
• The advantage of 2-D codes is their capacity to store much
greater amounts of data at higher area densities.
• Their disadvantage is that special scanning equipment is
required to read the codes, and the equipment is more
expensive than scanners used for conventional bar codes.
• Two-dimensional symbologies divide into two basic types:
1. stacked bar codes and
2. matrix symbologies.

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Stacked Bar Codes

• The first 2-D bar code to be introduced was a stacked

symbology.
• It was developed in an effort to reduce the area required for
a conventional bar code.
• But its real advantage is that it can contain significantly
greater amounts of data.
• A stacked bar code consists of multiple rows of conventional
linear bar codes stacked on top of each other.
• Several stacking schemes have been devised over the years,
nearly all of which allow for multiple rows and variations in
the numbers of encoded characters possible.

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A 2-D stacked bar code

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Matrix Symbologies
• A matrix symbology consists of 2-D patterns of data cells that are
usually square and are colored dark (usually black) or white.
• The 2-D matrix symbologies were introduced around 1990.
• Their advantage over stacked bar codes is their capability to
contain more data. They also have the potential for higher data
densities—up to 30 times more dense than Code 39.
• Their disadvantage compared to stacked bar codes is that they
are more complicated, which requires more sophisticated
printing and reading equipment.
• The symbols must be produced (during printing) and interpreted
(during reading) both horizontally and vertically; therefore, they
are sometimes referred to as area symbologies.

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A 2-D matrix bar code

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Machine Vision
• The principal application of machine vision is for automated
inspection tasks
• For AIDC applications, machine vision systems are used to read
2-D matrix symbols, such as Data Matrix, and they can also be
used for stacked bar codes.
• Applications of machine vision also include other types of
automatic identification, and these applications may grow in
number as the technology advances.
• For example, machine vision systems are capable of
distinguishing among a variety of products moving down a
conveyor so that the products can be sorted.
• The recognition task is accomplished without using special
identification codes on the products and is instead based on the
inherent geometric features of the object.
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