This DIY Machine Can Scan a Whole Library of Books with Minimal Effort

Back in 2002, Google initiated a very ambitious project: digitizing all of the world’s books — many of which are out of print, rare, or otherwise difficult for your average person to access. That project ultimately failed as the result of legitimate copyright infringement claims from authors and publishers. But there are still many millions of titles without legal entanglements that would benefit from digitization. To make that easier and more affordable than ever before, Redditor bradmattson designed this automated book scanner.

This isn’t just a camera mounted on a tripod above a table — such systems already exist and are fairly affordable. This is an entire machine capable of efficiently scanning many books with minimal operator oversight. It is also portable and capable of folding into a relatively compact briefcase for transportation to new locations, such as public libraries, local book stores, and the private vaults of the wealthy supervillains that guard the published works of the Illuminati.

To get the ball rolling, the operator places a stack of books on a tray on one side of the machine. A command on a laptop running the Python-based control software then starts the scanning process. The machine grabs a book from the tray and slides it over to the scanner area. There, it uses a suction gripper to grab the cover and open the book. Next, an actuated arm pushes a plexiglass panel down onto the book to flatten it. While it is in place, the laptop snaps a photo using an overhead camera. To flip to the next page, the plexiglass moves back out of the way and the machine uses a small PC fan to grip the paper gently through negative pressure. It folds the page over and the process repeats until the book is done. Then it moves that book out of the way, grabs the next, and does the whole thing again.

The laptop controls that complicated series of motions through an Arduino GIGA R1 WiFi development board. Bradmattson put a CNC shield on that to control the machine’s stepper motors and a separate driver board handles the machine’s servo motors. Relay modules toggle power to the lights and the suction gripper’s vacuum motor.

The whole process is fairly quick. But more importantly, it is automatic. That means that it only needs minor supervision and the operator can do other tasks while the machine is at work digitizing all of the content locked away in old books — even those that contain the secrets of the Illuminati.