I have a little project which I'm working on. I have a pile of books in which all the books are in the morning. During the day some of the books are taken away and afterwards they should be returned back into the pile. I would like to somehow monitor how many of the books are taken away (and maybe even which ones) and if they are returned into the pile. Any thoughts how this might be possible to do?
If you are only interested in whether all of the books have been returned you could weigh the pile of books.
If other people are involved in borrowing the books and you want to keep track of which books have been borrowed you will probably need the assistance of the other people. Perhaps you could have a barcode on each book and a barcode reader.
...R
Thak you for your quick reply! Weighing the books crossed my mind, too. It would be great if I could somehow measure how many and which of the books are missing, though. I'm trying to build the system so, that I will send the measured data to my computer via wlan. However first I would have to come up with the right sensor-method.
A barcode-reader might do it actually. If I would put a little barcode on each book I could read which books are missing. The bookpile will be always in the same place (I will give such instructions)..is it possible to set up a static barcode reader so, that it is possile to read all the books in the pile at once? There are 15 books or so, total height maybe 30cm.
Any other ideas I could try?
RFID?
RFID and barcodes are how libraries do it, but that requires control over the 'check out' procedure. But if you weigh the books, you should be able to set up something so you can measure if a book is taken but not checked out. Also, if the books aren't identical, you could maybe identify which book is taken based on it's weight.
Also, if the books aren't identical, you could maybe identify which book is taken based on it's weight.
If you had books of 300g, 200g and 100g, is 300g of books 1x 300g or (1x200g + 1x 100g).
If you had a box, table, shelf that had the RFID sensor(s) installed and each book had a unique RFID tag then the sensors should/could log them via proximity. Either they are in range or they are not. I know my dog door willleave the door up while my dog is within 1 meter range of the door via RFID.
Can you turn the pile into a neat shelf with a place for each specific book? If yes, then monitoring which one is taken is trivial.
JimboZA:
If you had books of 300g, 200g and 100g, is 300g of books 1x 300g or (1x200g + 1x 100g).
You assume that books are taken one at a time.
There is a reason I said 'Maybe' I'm assuming a lot of things, like a fairly precise measuring tool and books being an inconsistent weight.
RFID seems a "natural" for this.
http://www.beegeesindia.com/library-check-in-out-systems-41/
Didn't we do this a year ago or so?
Must say it rings a bell, but I cba to search.
Now that you mention it, it rings a bell of mine as well, but if I remember correctly it involved multiple copies of the same title.