Arduino barcode scanner: connect OEM barcode scanners modules with Arduino microcontroller (MCU)

If you are using Arduino microcontroller to develop your system, and you need a 1d/ 2d OEM barcode scanner module at the same time, then this article would be helpful for you:

Here we introduce how we connect the Arduino Uno microcontroller with RTscan OEM barcode scanner modules and how to make them work with each other.

When we try to integrate an OEM barcode scanner with the Arduino microcontroller board, we would meet these problems:

The OEM barcode scanner with 12pins TTL interface, but Arduino board without this type connector, then how can we connect them together?
Whatever OEM barcode scanners we choose, how can we control the barcode scanner by Arduino and also upload decoded data to the Ardunio system?

Read below and find how RTscan provides solutions for the above questions.

Part I: Introduction of Arduino UNO and RTscan OEM barcode scanner modules

Part II: Connection solutions

Solution 1: Dupont interface
Solution 2: Connect via USB interface

Part III: Get the OEM barcode scanner module work with the Arduino system /Arduino C++ sample code:

For TTL-232 Communication& Python Sample code
For USB CDC Communication
For USB-HID keyboard simulation communication

Part VI: Video Demo

Part I: Introduction of Arduino UNO and RTscan barcode scanners

Arduino UNO:

The UNO is the most used and documented board of the whole Arduino microcontrollers family, many people choose this model for their projects. Arduino Uno has 14 digital input/output pins (of which 6 can be used as PWM outputs), 6 analog inputs, a 16 MHz quartz crystal, a USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP header, and a reset button. It contains everything needed to support the microcontroller.

Arduino UNO Pinout

And for our application to connect with OEM barcode scanner, we need the 5.0v power supply pin, and GND pin, RXD, TXD pins.

RTscan OEM barcode scanners:

They all with 12pins connector and TTL signal, and use FFC cable and connector like this :

In this article, we choose RT214 as an example to do the connection and integration.

Part II: Connection solutions:

RTscan provides two types of solutions:

Solution 1: Dupont interface

Connect the OEM barcode scanners to our EVK board (with trigger button ) which with Dupont, then connect with Arduino board:

For this solution, just connect the 5V power supply, GND, RX, and TX pins.

RT214/RT206/RT207/RT208/RT211	Arduino UNO
Power	5V
GND	GND
RX	TX(GPIO3)(PIN3)
TX	RX(GPIO2)(PIN2

And for this solution, the RT214 scanner needs to set to TTL-232 Communication (follow Part III/TTL-232 communication).

♠ OEM Scanner Modules that compliant with this solution:

RT203	RT206	RT207	RT208			RT214

∗please click the model number to view the full product introduction page.

Solution 2: Connect via USB host A

If your barcode scanner only has a USB interface instead of a Dupont male cable, and you want to connect it to the Arduino via USB interface, then you can use this solution: use an Arduino USB host shield.

The Arduino USB Host Shield allows you to connect a USB device to your Arduino board, setup RTscan’s barcode scanner to HID mode, or USB CDC/Virtual Com mode.

Please follow Part III/USB CDC Communication/USB-HID Communication to check how to make them work together.

♠ Barcode Scanner Modules that compliant with this solution:

All barcode scanners that have a USB interface. All OEM scanner modules, all fixed-mount types, all handheld types.

Part III:

Get the OEM barcode scanner module work with the Arduino system /Arduino C++ sample code:

We developed sample code to work with our scanners so that you can copy our source codes and program your system very quickly and no need to write the whole code one by one; save your time and speed up your integration work!

In this article, we choose RT214 as an example to do the programming.

1. TTL-232 Communication

Step 1: Hardware connection

Connect RT214+EVK board to Arduino UNO serial port via Dupont cable

Step 2: RT214 settings

RT214 needs to be set up with TTL-232 mode, scan the following barcode

Set to TTL-232 Mode, the default baud rate is 9600, 8-n-1

Enter setup

Set to TTL-232 mode

For more details, please refer to “RT214_User_Guide”

Step 3: Run the sample code

Upload the below sample code rt214_test_demo.ino to Arduino UNO.

/*
RT214 Test demo
by RTSCAN 20200903
*/

#include &amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;SoftwareSerial.h&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;
SoftwareSerial mySerial(2, 3); // RX, TX

void printHex(char *p, int len)
{
  char tmp[5];
  for (int i = 0; i &amp;amp;amp;amp;lt; len; i++)
  {
    sprintf(tmp, "%02x ", p[i]);
    Serial.print(tmp);
  }
  Serial.println();
}

bool check_response(unsigned long timeout, String response)
{
  char c;
  String buffer;
  bool found = false;
  unsigned long t = millis();

  while (millis() - t &amp;amp;amp;amp;lt; timeout)
  {
    if (mySerial.available() &amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; 0)
    {
      c = mySerial.read();

...

Please contact us to get full sample codes: info@rtscan.net

And the RT214 automatically detects and reads bar code.

Output:

Introduction of the serial port commands protocol for RT214

The often-used serial port commands as below (HEX):

Trigger mode：1B 31

Stop scanning：1B 30

Auto mode：1B 32

Continuous read mode：1B 33

For more details, please refer to 《RTscan_Serial_Programming_Command_Manual.PDF》

2. USB CDC Communication

In this solution, we connect the OEM barcode scanner to Arduino via USB host, and firstly we need to set the scanner to USB Virtual Com emulation mode, and the Arduino recognizes the scanner as a USB CDC device. Follow the steps as below:

Step 1: Hardware connection

Connect the RT214 scanner to the USB port of the Arduino USB host shield through a USB data cable.

Step 2: RT214 settings

RT214 set to USB CDC mode, scan the following Setting bar code.

Enter setup

Set to USB-CDC mode:

Recognized as a COM port device on the computer:

Step 3: Include the library

Arduino Library Manager

First, install Arduino IDE version 1.6.2 or newer, then simply use the Arduino Library Manager to install the library.

Please see the following page for instructions:

http://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/Libraries#toc3

Manual installation

First download the library by clicking on the following link:

https://github.com/felis/USB_Host_Shield_2.0/archive/master.zip.

Then uncompress the zip folder and rename the directory to “USB_Host_Shield_20”, as any special characters are not supported by the Arduino IDE.

Now open up the Arduino IDE and open “File>Preferences”. There you will see the location of your sketchbook. Open that directory and create a directory called “libraries” inside that directory. Now move the “USB_Host_Shield_20” directory to the “libraries” directory.

The final structure should look like this:

Arduino/
- libraries/
  - USB_Host_Shield_20/

Now quit the Arduino IDE and reopen it.

Now you should be able to go open all the examples codes by navigating to “File>Examples>USB_Host_Shield_20” and then select the example you will like to open.

For more information please visit the following sites:

http://arduino.cc/en/Guide/Libraries

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-all-about-arduino-libraries-install-use.

Step 4: Run the sample code

Run:

acm_terminal. ino

#include &amp;amp;amp;lt;cdcacm.h&amp;amp;amp;gt;
#include &amp;amp;amp;lt;usbhub.h&amp;amp;amp;gt;
#include "pgmstrings.h"

// Satisfy the IDE, which needs to see the include statment in the ino too.

#ifdef dobogusinclude
#include &amp;amp;amp;lt;spi4teensy3.h&amp;amp;amp;gt;
#endif

#include &amp;amp;amp;lt;SPI.h&amp;amp;amp;gt;

class ACMAsyncOper : public CDCAsyncOper
{
public:
    uint8_t OnInit(ACM *pacm);
};

uint8_t ACMAsyncOper::OnInit(ACM *pacm)
{
    uint8_t rcode;
    // Set DTR = 1 RTS=1
    rcode = pacm-&amp;amp;amp;gt;SetControlLineState(3);

    if (rcode)
    {
        ErrorMessage&amp;amp;amp;lt;uint8_t&amp;amp;amp;gt;(PSTR("SetControlLineState"), rcode);
        return rcode;
    }

    LINE_CODING lc;
    lc.dwDTERate = 115200;
    lc.bCharFormat = 0;
    lc.bParityType = 0;
    lc.bDataBits = 8;

    rcode = pacm-&amp;amp;amp;gt;SetLineCoding(&amp;amp;amp;amp;lc);

    if (rcode)
        ErrorMessage&amp;amp;amp;lt;uint8_t&amp;amp;amp;gt;(PSTR("SetLineCoding"), rcode);

    return rcode;
}

USB     Usb;
//USBHub     Hub(&amp;amp;amp;amp;Usb);
ACMAsyncOper  AsyncOper;
ACM           Acm(&amp;amp;amp;amp;Usb, &amp;amp;amp;amp;AsyncOper);

void setup()
{
  Serial.begin( 115200 );

#if !defined(__MIPSEL__)
  while (!Serial); // Wait for serial port to connect - used on Leonardo, Teensy and other boards with built-in USB CDC serial connection
#endif
  Serial.println("Start");

...

Please contact us to get full sample codes: info@rtscan.net

Open the serial port for debugging:

Scan any barcode and it will be shown as below:

3. USB-HID Communication

In this solution, the scanner is set to USB HID KBW mode, and the Arduino recognizes the scanner as a USB keyboard simulation device.

Step 1: Hardware connection

Connect the RT214 scanner to the USB port of the Arduino USB host shield through a USB data cable.

Step 2: RT214 settings

RT214 set to USB CDC mode, scan the following Setting bar code

Enter setup:

Set to USB-HID mode:

Recognized as on the computer:

Step 3: Include the library

Arduino Library Manager

First, install Arduino IDE version 1.6.2 or newer, then simply use the Arduino Library Manager to install the library.

Please see the following page for instructions:

http://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/Libraries#toc3

Manual installation

First download the library by clicking on the following link:

https://github.com/felis/USB_Host_Shield_2.0/archive/master.zip.

Then uncompress the zip folder and rename the directory to “USB_Host_Shield_20”, as any special characters are not supported by the Arduino IDE.

The final structure should look like this:

Arduino/
- libraries/
  - USB_Host_Shield_20/

Now quit the Arduino IDE and reopen it.

Now you should be able to go open all the examples codes by navigating to “File>Examples>USB_Host_Shield_20” and then select the example you will like to open.

For more information please visit the following sites:

http://arduino.cc/en/Guide/Libraries

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-all-about-arduino-libraries-install-use.

Step 4: Run the sample code

Run: Scanner_USBHIDUniversalKbd. ino

#include &amp;amp;lt;hidboot.h&amp;amp;gt;
#include &amp;amp;lt;usbhid.h&amp;amp;gt;
#include &amp;amp;lt;hiduniversal.h&amp;amp;gt;
#include &amp;amp;lt;SPI.h&amp;amp;gt;

class KbdRptParser : public KeyboardReportParser
{
  public:
    void PrintKey(uint8_t mod, uint8_t key);
    bool isScanEnd();
    void PrintScanCode();

  protected:
    void OnControlKeysChanged(uint8_t before, uint8_t after);
    void OnKeyDown  (uint8_t mod, uint8_t key);
    void OnKeyUp    (uint8_t mod, uint8_t key);
    void OnKeyPressed(uint8_t key);

    String ScanCode = "";
    uint32_t FreeTime = 0;
    bool StartScan = false;
};

void KbdRptParser::PrintKey(uint8_t m, uint8_t key)
{

  MODIFIERKEYS mod;
  *((uint8_t*)&amp;amp;amp;mod) = m;

  Serial.print((mod.bmLeftCtrl   == 1) ? "C" : " ");
  Serial.print((mod.bmLeftShift  == 1) ? "S" : " ");
  Serial.print((mod.bmLeftAlt    == 1) ? "A" : " ");
  Serial.print((mod.bmLeftGUI    == 1) ? "G" : " ");

  Serial.print(" &amp;amp;gt;");

  PrintHex&amp;amp;lt;uint8_t&amp;amp;gt;(key, 0x80);
  Serial.print("&amp;amp;lt; ");
  Serial.print((mod.bmRightCtrl   == 1) ? "C" : " ");

 ...

Please contact us to get full sample codes: info@rtscan.net

Open the serial port for debugging：

Scan any barcode and it will be shown as below:

This article is a solution introduction for Arduino barcode scanners, if you are using Raspberry Pi and need an OEM barcode scanner, please read: Raspberry Pi barcode scanner

If you need an embedded type 2d and QR barcode scanner for Arduino, please read:

Embedded QR Code scanner for Arduino

If you need an Embedded barcode scanner for Raspberry Pi, please read:

Embedded barcode scanner for Raspberry Pi

We developed an Arduino solution for most of our OEM barcode scanners, includes RT203 RT206 RT207 RT208 RT209 RT211 RT830B, if you want to learn more about them, please view below: https://www.rtscan.net/barcode-readers/oem-barcode-scanners/