Digitising collections of microfiche - Re: Looking for opinions...

[geneb]

On Wed, 28 Mar 2018, Zane Healy via cctalk wrote:

>> The Illumitran uses bellows, but for a lot of DEC fiche, the page size is constant so extension tubes might actually be better - they won't slip.
>
> Initially I was going to suggest an Illumitran, but I don’t think it 
> would work that well with trying to move the fiche around. You might 
> have a point on the DEC fiche, though the bellows will allow you to 
> maximize your page size.  Of course that may not be the greatest idea, 
> as the more you maximize the size, the more attention you’ll have to pay 
> to positioning each frame.
>
I'm probably WAY over simplifying this because I don't have a grasp of the 
optics involved, but wouldn't it be possible to get a good image of 
individual pages on a microfiche by using a DSLR with the right lens and 
a CNC X/Y table made from one of the large (8x10) LED illuminators used to 
treat SAD?  The lights are pretty bright and are under $50.  The X/Y table 
build would be very simple and cheap to build.  The only "real" expense 
would be the right lens on the camera.

The process could be automated by using a cheap SMD part vacuum (the 
little hand-held one I have ran about $10) attached to an arm that was run 
by some R/C servos.

You could use a webcam to image the whole sheet in order to obtain the 
title of the sheet and that image along with the individual page images 
could be stored together.  The webcam could also be used in conjunction 
with OpenCL to ensure that the fiche positioner got it right every time.

g.


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