Project Gado has launched a kit for open source Arduino-based scanning robot, Gado 2. Gado 2 can be used by archives, museums, and also individuals, to digitize and preserve their archival or family photographs.
Project Gado releases a kit for the Gado 2, an open source Arduino-based scanning robot
The commonly available robotic scanners and document feeders are expensive, and can also damage the photographs during the scanning process. Using Gado 2, a photograph can be scanned and saved in just 42 s. Moreover, hundreds of photographs can be scanned in a continuous stretch without the need for constant supervision. The process applied by Gado 2 involves placing the photograph, which has been suction-lifted, on a flatbed scanner, followed by scanning, and uploading them on a computer.
The Gado 2 kit consists of an IPEVO document camera, necessary electronic parts, 3D-printed plastic components and instructions for building the robot. The content at the back of a photograph is also digitized by the Gado 2. The clients who can effectively use the technology of Gado 2 include historical societies, individual families, publishers, museums, municipal and state archives, and newspapers.
Afro-American Newspapers’ Archivist, John Gartrell, who used to manually scan more than 5,000 images, said that after using Gado 2 his work has become highly simplified. Hardware developer with Project Gado, Brendan Ebers, said that Gado 2 being an open source robot, developers and markers have the freedom to modify the software and the device based on their individual needs. The National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance is supporting Project Gado in offering the first ten Gado 2 kits at an introductory price.