studio mango's automated book scanner for libraries converts 1,500 pages per hour

studio mango’s automated book scanner for libraries converts 1,500 pages per hour
all images courtesy of studio mango

in 2014, studio mango was approached to develop an affordable automatic book scanner which could be used by libraries or consumers to digitize their book collections and even function as a means to do quality controls in printing factories. in the research phase, it turned out that there was a lively online scene for amateur inventors and universities to work on DIY linear book scanners.  in their first attempt to create a prototype the result was that nearly nothing worked. but after years worth of engineering and fine tuning, a scanner was developed using professional parts (instead of vacuum cleaners and ripped open consumer scanners) which worked faultlessly. 

the automated scanner in action
video courtesy of studio mango

the linear book scanner is able to scan most types and sizes of books automatically with a rate of 1,500 pages an hour with a quality of 300 DPI, these images can be converted into digital texts by the scanner’s software. it has been designed in such a way that it is easy to assembled and when not in use it can be dismantled into a closet. in 2016, the book scanner will become commercially available as a fully assembled model, assembly kit and as a free downloadable model for the design community. the download will share all 3d files, technical drawings, part list and software so that it can be tweaked in any way desired.

the system automatically flips the page to continue scanning 

 inside the automatic book scanner

the necessary inputs and outputs to the scanner

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: piotr boruslawski | designboom