[maemo-developers] Gsoc Idea Barcode Reader First Draft Proposal

[From: amit sethi]

Hi , Thanks for the information on zebra . Gstreamer can be used as the
framework for using zebra .Gstreamer also has python bindings.
Here is a first draft of the proposal for the project , I would like to get
suggestions on how i can improve it.
            Application for Google summer of code 2009
                         The maemo project

Title:Barcode scanner

The Project Abstract and Motivation  :
To develop a bar-code reader that can make shopping a new experience. The
application will read the bar-code of products using the camera on ITT
devices and help user compare the price with other local stores, see product
reviews and also build and share shopping lists, wish lists etc.. Also in
developing countries, most store owners do not as yet use an automated
retail management system. Mobile is the preferred way of computing in these
countries because its cheap, portable and multipurpose use as a
communicating device. Perhaps this project will also help small business
owners in developing countries to automate cheaply and thus help maemo's
popularity and reach.


Details :
The major task in  this project is developing a barcode framework that can
be used to develop application for Barcode scanning  pricing,  etc.
information. Maemo-barcode uses BaToo - Barcode Recognition Toolkit. But it
has been suggested that zebra barcode reader be used. The zebra library can
use both image files and video4linux device. V4L is supported by Gstreamer
which is one of the multimedia frameworks available on maemo.  With a
framework built we can proceed to the task of writing scripts that will
search the various online stores like Amazon for reviews, prices etc., build
and share shopping lists and wish lists. The GUI for the application could
be developed using pyGTK and Hildon framework. My preferred language for
this project shall be Python.




Project Deliverables :

1.To develop a framework for barcode scanning in maemo.
2.Searching and shopping list building capability for atleast one major
shopping site (Amazon).
3.Cataloging capability for atleast one major book cataloging site
(LibraryThing).
4.A barcode application with the above two capabilities with a nice user
interface.


Project Schedule  :

April 20 to May23:
Get to know my mentors , fimilarize myself with Maemo SDK and the tools I
will be using for the project. Also familarize myself with Amazon and
libraryThing API.

May 23 to June 13th :
Work with maemo-barcode developers on a framework for scanning and reading
barcode .

June 13  to July 4th :
Writing scripts for using Amazon and LibraryThing API's for pricing , review
and  building shopping lists and wish lists.

July 4th to July 18th :
Develop User Interface.

July 18th to August 17th:
Testing and Documentation work.

August 18 : If successful - Partying :)

Consideration due to Local University Calendar:

April 24-30 - Home Exams.
May 15-30 - University Exams .
so I might be scarce during this time but I would still try to get 10 hours
of work.

May 30 onwards:
Vacation
Can give time as much as normal working hours.



Biography:

I am Amit Singh Sethi, an undergraduate student at Guru Tegh Bahadur
Institute of Technology, Indraprastha University, New Delhi, India. I am an
Ubuntu user for more than a year. I have also been developing in python for
past one year in which I have worked with many standard and non-standard
python libraries and tools.
Like:
MusicBrainz, mutagen, Bio-python, pyGTk - For an automated playlist
management system .
Vector space Model, Stemmers, Django ,BeautifulSoup - For a Web-Analytics
tool currently under development.
Apart from that I have worked on some  localization work  for my mother
tongue -Punjabi
My interest in Maemo is because it combines open source software and Mobile
- In India mobile is the most preferred form of computing because its cheap
and portable and has been more successful than PC.  I am also looking
forward to working with people across the world.

Other Information:

Language: English is not my mother tongue but has been my medium of
education so I am fairly fluent.

Communication  :
e-mail: amit.pureenergy at gmail.com
Freenode Nickname:amit_usual
snail-mail:608 Naveen Kunj Apartments, Plot No. 22, Pocket 6, Nasirpur Road,
Dwarka, New Delhi-PIN-110045, India.

Time-zone : GMT+5:30 (I can work at odd hours, infact relish them.)



On Mon, Mar 23, 2009 at 2:53 PM, Simon Pickering
<S.G.Pickering at bath.ac.uk>wrote:

> Hi Steffen,
>
> > some month ago i tried to port http://zebra.sourceforge.net/
> > to the maemo platform.
> > The Zebra Barcode Reader can decode barcodes from a live video stream
> > (v4l) an static images (jpeg, bmp, etc.).
>
> Thanks for the pointer. For maemo-barcode we currently use the main
> logic provided by the Batoo project
> (http://people.inf.ethz.ch/adelmanr/batoo/), but it looks like zebra
> decodes more types of 1D barcode so I'll have a look at it.
>
> > If im informed correctly, the n810's webcam has also a v4l interface
> > that could be used for the barcode decoding.
> > It should be quite easy to port it. Its coded in C and its sourcecode is
> > available.
>
> I'll try to get it compiled in the week.
>
> Cheers,
>
>
> Simon
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> maemo-developers mailing list
> maemo-developers at maemo.org
> https://lists.maemo.org/mailman/listinfo/maemo-developers
>



-- 
A-M-I-T S|S
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