Announcing the Archivist Scanner and a Beta Program!

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daniel_reetz
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Announcing the Archivist Scanner and a Beta Program!

Post by daniel_reetz »

ArchivistThumb2.jpg
ArchivistThumb2.jpg (45.97 KiB) Viewed 31696 times
Hey Everyone! The new DIY Book Scanner kit is almost ready. We've (me, Johannes, Scann, and many others) been working on it for 9 months straight, and we're looking for some people to help test it before we make it publicly available. (As of 8/17/2014 the beta is now closed - I'm out of beta scanners. But feel free to apply anyway - it's really great to hear from you)

See details about the scanner here - http://store.diybookscanner.org/ (the password is 'BETA').

The Archivist hardware already works well, scans larger books than the old scanner, and produces superior images. This Beta is mostly about refining and testing software and how it integrates with the overall system, particularly SpreadPi. See this (very early) video about SpreadPi - the control system based on the Raspberry Pi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL0NmT70QL0 (please keep in mind this video is months old and doesn't represent the state of the art or show the current scanner frame - simply haven't had time to make an updated video showing the speed and elegance of the current system).

Up to five people/sites will be chosen. To be a part of the beta, you need to meet the following criteria:
  • Have/be someone who knows Linux and/or has basic programming abilities.
    Be willing to purchase a Raspberry Pi Model B+, memory cards and cameras.
    Be willing and able to contribute feedback and bug reports.
    Be willing and able to screw some hardware together.
    Be available for a Google Hangout with Daniel to troubleshoot and talk about the technology.
For your participation, we'll knock $100 off the price of the scanner, lighting module, and glass, and we'll paint your parts black for you (A $70 value) in exchange for your participation and feedback. You'll get the hardware frame ASAP, and the lighting module and glass about a week after that. The Birch parts are being manufactured as I type this email. Some parts of the lighting module won't arrive until 8/15.

If you're interested in helping work out the bugs before a wider release, contact

diybookscanner@gmail.com and tell us a little about yourself!

UPDATE - 18/09/2014: a small batch of kits now for sale! Check here.

UPDATE - 18/09/2014: read about The Archivist at Make magazine :D .

UPDATE - 10/09/2014: cool photos of the new build, available here. Making progress on packaging, hardware and software!
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daniel_reetz
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Re: Announcing the Archivist Scanner and a Beta Program!

Post by daniel_reetz »

Feel free to ask any questions or post your thoughts here - I'll be around to answer questions sporadically until Saturday, when I return from traveling...
dpc
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Re: Announcing the Archivist Scanner and a Beta Program!

Post by dpc »

Well just when things were getting kinda quiet around here you drop a bomb! Congrats on your latest scanner design, Dan. That looks like a great turnkey scanning system with the lighting hood, adjustable camera supports, and a SpreadPi kit. Well done!

Does this scanner invert like the Hackerspace scanner to scan smaller "naturally-closed" paper back books, or would another type of scanner be better to archive those?
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daniel_reetz
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Re: Announcing the Archivist Scanner and a Beta Program!

Post by daniel_reetz »

:)

It's been quite difficult to keep this under wraps, but I really wanted it to b be exceptional before releasing. It's not my style (or my preference) to do development "in the dark" - but some bad actors compelled me to do this one differently. We have people actively patenting ideas from the forum and one particularly lame actor cloning the old scanner in China and charging a fortune for them, flaws and all.

This scanner doesn't do "paperback mode" as the last one did. I only know of two users that ever actively used it that way, and it forced me to put the lighting too low. How important is that functionality to you? For this machine, I put image quality and scan size first at every opportunity. I might never have finished if it weren't for Johannes and SpreadPi making steady progress. After five straight years of working on this Project, I feel that this might finally be the scanner that I would personally use to scan all my own books, and I feel like the software is finally close to the vision we've all articulated over the years.

I'm excited to share this design today for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that after 9 months of straight development, I've run out of resources. Really looking forward to what people contribute back, hardware and software.

Dpc, thanks for sticking with the project and for all your contributions over the years. Means a lot to me.
dpc
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Re: Announcing the Archivist Scanner and a Beta Program!

Post by dpc »

This scanner doesn't do "paperback mode" as the last one did. I only know of two users that ever actively used it that way, and it forced me to put the lighting too low. How important is that functionality to you?
Not that big of a deal to me personally, I was just curious since I know you wanted the Hackerspace scanner to reside in a public place for folks to use to scan everything and I assume that's why you could flip it over (cumbersome as it is) to scan smaller paperbacks that wouldn't normally stay open if placed in a platen in the usual manner. I agree with you that there are likely many more larger books that couldn't be scanned with that scanner and can now be accommodated with the new Archivist model than paperbacks that could not, so I think you're moving in the right direction.

What is the largest book size that this new scanner can adequately scan and how much larger is that compared to what could be handled with the Hackerspace scanner?
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daniel_reetz
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Re: Announcing the Archivist Scanner and a Beta Program!

Post by daniel_reetz »

It scans 12*15" vs 9*12" ( really 8*11ish) for the last one.. Doesn't sound like much, but now it covers every book in my collection except a single giant oversize volume of posters...
dtic
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Re: Announcing the Archivist Scanner and a Beta Program!

Post by dtic »

Looking great! :)
daniel_reetz wrote: It's been quite difficult to keep this under wraps, but I really wanted it to b be exceptional before releasing. It's not my style (or my preference) to do development "in the dark" - but some bad actors compelled me to do this one differently. We have people actively patenting ideas from the forum and one particularly lame actor cloning the old scanner in China and charging a fortune for them, flaws and all.
Sorry to hear about lame patenters and bad commercial clones. A general challenge with open source hardware projects I guess.
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Re: Announcing the Archivist Scanner and a Beta Program!

Post by dbmoura »

Thank you Daniel!
What an enhancement, simplicity in a clear design, achievement in polishing little details. Many years of doubts and discussions in forums, the use and experience can be seen here. The hardware is admiring!
The path of integrating the optics, the trigger, the data transfer and software is a great improvement. The further news of a possible Spreads server is fantastic. Light, camera adjustment, glass fittings, assembling… looking great.
All contributors are with “you, Johannes, Scann, and many others” in this way and to see this in first hand is a gift. Thank you all.
I am anxious to spread the news among my fellow colleagues in Brazil.
"Rio 40ºC cidade maravilha do veneno e do caos."
kamina
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Re: Announcing the Archivist Scanner and a Beta Program!

Post by kamina »

Great job Daniel!
Hope to see more details soon.

Sad to hear about patent trolls over here...
dpc
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Re: Announcing the Archivist Scanner and a Beta Program!

Post by dpc »

It scans 12*15" vs 9*12" ( really 8*11ish) for the last one.. Doesn't sound like much, but now it covers every book in my collection except a single giant oversize volume of posters...
Is that the size of the actual platen glass panes? I noticed from the beta page of the website store that the dimensions for the Archivist Glass isn't listed (other than being 3mm thick).
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