Description

Currently Agriculture Canada has an extensive sequence database containing information regarding species of bacteria and fungi found globally. They label the specimen containers with bar codes to be able to organize them efficiently. They are using handheld scanners connected via Bluetooth to the database. The scanner can search for and display multiple data fields from the database. The problem that they are experiencing is that the scanner are extremely expensive and the user interface is too small and confusing to display the numerous menu options and corresponding data.

The project consists of creating an Android application that has the same functionality as the scanner. This will also connect with the database via Bluetooth since there are government regulations that state Wifi can not be used to transmit the sensitive information being used.

Objectives

We are implementing the scanner as an Android application because most people already have an android device and would be able to easily install the application. Even if they do not have an Android device, it is still significantly cheaper to buy a device rather than the scanner. For this project to be a success we will include all of the original features of the scanner currently in use.

Risks

Some of the bar codes will be used on small tubes, which results in a curvature in the bar code. This may affect the ability to read the bar code. If this is the case, we will have to perform some image processing that takes this into consideration.