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| Friday, 9 January 2004 |
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University team develops innovative "SmartCamBCR" by Sudarshana Perera In a ground-breaking move showcasing the country's expertise in developing innovative ICT Solutions, a four-member team from the University of Moratuwa has developed a webcam based intelligent barcode reader "SmartCamBCR". This product won an award under the Tertiary Student Projects category at The Asia Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA) 2003 held in Bangkok, Thailand. Ruwan Janapriya, a member of the team said that SmartCamBCR is an intelligent barcode reader which enables reading barcodes using the ordinary PC. It's fast and accurate algorithm will detect and read automatically when a barcode is present in front of the low-resolution CCD camera (e.g. webcam) which is acting as the only input device. "This product was the outcome of a research paper "A Lowcost barcode reader using a webcam" that we did for the final year project of the Computer Science and Engineering batch 98/99", Janapriya said. Speaking on the technology behind the product, Head of Department, Computer Science and Engineering, Dr. Ashok Peiris said that SmartCamBCR basically operates on Image Processing Techniques and Artificial Intelligence techniques for its robust barcode reading algorithm." The target real-time system was developed using DirectX Technology (DirectShow). Implementation language was Visual C++" he said." This is a low cost solution" he said. According to four students, Barcodes are a class of the simplest printed patterns that can be reliably recognised by a computer. These codes consist of parallel, light and dark stripes printed on papers. Since 1952, various kinds of scanners were developed to read barcodes. Most of these barcode readers use a laser beam to scan the barcode and give the resulting value. Commenting on the role the university of Moratuwa plays in producing skilful ICT human resources, Senior Lecturer of the university Dr. V. Sanath Jayasena said that the they expect to work in synergy with the industry sector and update their educational and training structure according to the requirements of the ICT industry. "We will support the ICT industry to develop and compete with global markets", Dr. Jayasena said. He also said that university will do its utmost to enhance small industries in Sri Lanka. He also stressed the importance of nurturing more research and experiments done by students. When asked to comment on the ICT industry in Sri Lanka, they said that the industry is growing fast and red tapes have to cleared if we are to build up a dynamic ICT culture in the country. The SmartCamBCR team members are E. G. Ruwan Janapriya, K. G. Lasantha I. Kularathne, P. A. Kosala, G. Pannipitiya and A.G. K. M. Anuruddha Gamakumara. The project was supervised by Chathura de Silva and Dr. Nalin Wickramarachchi. |
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