Today, I want to provide some information about the barcode our OLS can read.
I have done that in form of a "FAQ" list, if something is missing, please let me know.

• Which kind of BarCode is used?
• Which Orientation?
• Reading tolerance?
• How many digits can the OLS read?
• How to decrypt the 2/5 interleaved BarCode: 
• Code with CheckSum

Which kind of BarCode is used?

interleaved 2 of 5

The code is called 2/5 interleaved, because there are 2 numbers coded by use of 5 bars.
1st Number =   5 x black bar
2nd Number = 5 x space in-between

With that method a high code density can be reached.

Which Orientation?

The barcode should be upright to the guiding line - so that the light spot of OLS goes through directly.

It doesn't matter if the code is turned 180° - our OLS is automatically recognizing the orientation and sets a flag "code flipped" in case of 180° turn

Reading Tolerance?

As written in the datasheet: 100mm +/-10

I want to advice that the code reading is less tolerant compared to the line guidance, that means that for >120mm there is no more reliable reading possible.

How many digits can the OLS read?

Our OLS can read a 4 digit code in a range from 0 to 255 due to the limitation of 8 Bit.
The Code is included in the process data.
For instance, in the CANOpen TPDO 1 - look for Byte 7 & Byte 8

How to decrypt the 2/5 interleaved BarCode: 

Look here to see the construction of the code: 

Start: bar - gap- bar - gap - all narrow
Stop: wide bar - narrow gap - narrow bar

The numbers are coded as follows:
n = narrow
w = wide

Our example with "1234" is just for demonstration - I want to mention, that 1234 is a too big number for the OLS (maximum = 255)

Code with CheckSum

To get the code reading more reliable, the 2/5 interleaved Code can be extended with a CheckSum
Here you can see an example how the CheckSum works:

All odd numbers are multiplied by 3.

The CheckSum Code is different to the normal Code and the OLS must be able to read such a Code with CheckSum.

Please be aware, that our standard OLS don't support CheckSum Codes.
But we can offer another OLS20 type on request, when needed.