Smart Barcode Authentication System Using Python

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN:2395-0056

Volume: 09 Issue: 12 | Dec 2022 www.irjet.net p-ISSN:2395-0072

Smart Barcode Authentication System Using Python

Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering Guru Nanak Institute Of Technology Sodepur, Kolkata - 700114 India ***

Abstract - The authentication program is one of the crucial steps in any kind of system where various people or products are present. To make their values checked, to make them authenticated we use a lot of technologies nowadays. Barcode is one of these technologies used for authentication purposes. Barcode contains some encoded value of any realworld entity by which we can authenticate them and take them into our use as per our requirement. In this research, we have understood how barcodes work and how they can be used in most of the authentication systems where it is not in use till today. Authentication using barcodes is not only a security technique but also a system where we can use automation and artificial intelligence. So, we are looking forward to taking steps in developing more in this field to create some value for our society.

Key Words: Barcode, Authentication, Artificial Intelligence,QR-Code,Scanner,Reader,Security,Database, PythonProgramming.

1. INTRODUCTION

In this modern world where we are adopting automation andtechnologiesdaybyday,doingmonetarytransactions usingsecuretechnologies,makingallkindsofinformation in digital storage provided by the government, etc. There are plenty of good sides to where we are blessed for having these kinds of modern technologies with us but there are people who are not so positive about all these. Cheatersandscammersareeverywhereandtryingtosteal the data of people which are available online. So, security comesonthemost-prioritylistinthemodernworldwhich weneedtotakecareof.Barcodetechnologyisoneofthese security systems by which we can prove the authenticity ofreal-worldentities.Thistechnologyisnowwidelyused but there are some drawbacks and future scopes also. In thispaper,wearehighlightingtheseanddiscussingfuture scopeswecanhaveaboutthesame.

1.1 What Is Barcode:

The Barcode was invented by two Drexel University students Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver in the year of 1948. In the year of 1952, the project was patented in the US. Barcode is a collection of black and white parallel vertical bars and these bars are made from the data we want to store in the form of a collection of bars.

1.2 Barcode In Security:

A barcode is a visual representation of encoded data from any kind of real-world entity. After encoding data takenfromanentity,itisrepresentedinaformofaseries of bars of different dimensions and placed at different distances from each other. A real entity cannot be expressed digitally, so by encoding the features of that particular entity we try to make it unique to identify. In thisworld,allhumansandalsoalllivingbeingshavetheir uniquebiologicalorchemicalidentitiesfromtheirphysical perspective.By encodingdata from an entity wetry to do thesamewithreal entitiesbutina digital way.Ithelpsto authenticate any single entity by its unique identity and alsohelpstolookforwardtosecurity.

1.3 What We Have In Mind:

In daily life, there are various uses for Barcodes that we can see. There are barcodes on every product on their branding labels. Manufacturers use barcodes to authenticate their products. In some cases, we can see barcodes in shipment boxes also. As many things are getting authenticated using barcodes, then why can't we authenticate human identity using barcodes in temporary situations like in traveling tickets, entering any concert using a unique identity, and various authentication-based entrieslikethese?Inthisresearch,wearegoingtodiscuss those opportunities we can have in the future and their prosaswellasconsalso.

2. Present Technologies And Usage:

2.1 A barcode is an image consisting of a series of black and white parallel vertical bars. Barcodes are made from thephysical data giventothemachineaboutany physical entity and converting them into digital form and representing them into a collection of bars as a barcode image.Abarcodecanbereadusingbarcodescanners.The Barcode scanner reads the combinations of black and white bars and then the machine decodes them into meaningful data which is later checked for matching with the data available previously. If the data matches, the relatedthingorproductisauthenticated,elsetheproduct iseithernotenlistedornotthecorrectone.

© 2022, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.529 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 1134

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN:2395-0056

Volume: 09 Issue: 12 | Dec 2022 www.irjet.net p-ISSN:2395-0072

Fig -1: Barcodereadinganddecoding

2.2 Barcodes are also used in product warehouses to make a count of goods that need to be dispatched or the oneswhicharereceived.Barcodescannerauthentications arealsodoneforthesepurposes.

Chart 1: Usagedatachart

4. What We Are Trying And How:

4.1 What: India is a country with a human count of 1.4 billionapproximately.Peoplewhoworkinsomefields,big and small businesses, schools, colleges, and transport systems every day face a huge amount of traffic. As there are lots of large services going on, in every situation they need count and authentication of unique entities to make things right as per the quantities and the quality of outcomes.

Fig -2: Readingbarcodesfromproducts

2.3 Mostbarcodesareusedinretailstorestoauthenticate products, track package details of delivery services, and alsoininventorymanagement.

3. Usage Statistics:

As per the data collected in the year 2021, total barcode scansfromglobalusersare6,825,842whichisanincrease of433%fromitspreviousdata.ThedatabaseofQRTIGER says the usage of the barcode(1D and 2D) in the first quarter of the year 2022 is as below: From the values of countries all over the world, we created the pie chart of barcodeusageinthefirstquarter of2022. Wehavetaken into consideration 10 countries which are the USA, India, France, United Kingdom, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Colombia, Malaysia,Singapore,andMexico.

4.1.1 Railways: In India, the average number of people who travel in Mumbai local trains is approximately equal to 7.58 million. The number is more than the total population of New Zealand. Not only the west, but India alsohassouthandeasternsectionwherethenumbersare more or less similar. So, maintaining this much crowd is not an easy task. When it comes to the authentication of passengers, there are ticket checkers who check tickets manually. But most of the time, lots of people travel withoutevenpayingasinglepenny.Whenticketcheckers suspectthemandcheckthem,thenonlytheyhavetopaya fine otherwise there is no restriction of traveling without havingaticket.Ifwecanintroduceabarcodeentryfacility for entering the station premises with an alarm sound detection,itcanbeprofitable.

4.1.2 Building And Concert Entries: In India, there are many historical places, temples, museums, and many places that people visit every day and people have to pay moneytoentertheseplaces.Insuchplaceswhereweneed to pay and enter, most of the places we see use manually operated booking systems and paper tickets. The manual processismoretimetakingandalsomorepronetoerror. If we try to implement a barcode-based system for payments and tickets, the authentications can be done moreeasily,accurately,andinlesstime.

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN:2395-0056

Volume: 09 Issue: 12 | Dec 2022 www.irjet.net p-ISSN:2395-0072

4.1.3 Student Security: In schools and colleges every day lots of students come and most of them are underaged. It is very much necessary for organizations to takeresponsibility for their student'ssecurity.Sometimes peoplegetsobusyintheirprofessionallifenowadaysthat they cannot pick up and drop their children at their schools so most of the time they take help from cars. To secure every student with their unique identity from the pullcartotheschoolpremiseswecantakethebenefitsof barcodesasdigitalvisualuniqueidentitycards.

4.2 How: In typical barcodes and barcode readers have some periodic processes to authenticate them. First, we have to locate the barcode in the product and then either we need to place the barcode in front of the barcode reader or the reader needs to place it in front of the barcode. In this process, it only scans one barcode at a time and anyhow we have to do it physically. Instead of using that system, we are trying to automate the whole system using python programming language where we can generate unique barcodes for every single entity and scan them together to authenticate using a single camera. In existing processes of barcode scanning, we use a light source,alens,andalightsourcebywhichthedataisread, and one by one we can authenticate each entity at a time but by using a camera we can authenticate every product which is coming to the camera vision. It is going to make the process faster and the chances of error will be reduced.

4.2.1 Using Python In Authentication: Pythonisone of the most well-known programming languages in the field of automation and artificial intelligence. But in our scenario, the practical use is not that deep because the system is for temporary authentication. Only for tracking records, the use of AI is not at all necessary but by using predetermined libraries like 'OpenCV', 'Pyzbar' and many others of these, the barcode generation and reading throughthevisionofacameragetseasyandrobust.

Fig - 3: Cameraasabarcodescanner

5. Future Scopes:

5.1 We have CCTV Surveillance cameras everywhere so we can use these cameras as barcode(1D AND 2D) scanners and authenticate products delivered to our doorstepfrominsideofourhomes.

5.2 We can have an automated authentication system for culturalfunctionsandpartieswherewetrytoensurethat onlyinvitedpeoplecantakeentry.

5.3 Even in product authentication, day-by-day 2D barcodesor QRcodesare takingtheplaceof 1Dbarcodes as 2D barcodes are more secure as they contain more encoded detailsabouttheproductthatcan help tosignify the product specification in a better way. Also in terms of security,the2Dbarcodeisverymuchreliable.

4.2.2

Using Camera As A Scanner:

Insteadof usinga barcodescanner,ifweuseacameraasabarcodescanner, thespanorvisionofthescannerbecomesmuchwider. In thiscase,wecanreadmorethanonebarcodeatatimeand the process takes less time. Using programming algorithms we can also automate the system and implement other technologies and devices like digital message boards, and buzzer alarms. We can also use IoT devices with the basic concepts to make things more improvedandwearelookingforwardtoitanddeveloping moreabouttheconcept.

5.4 Nowadays everyonehasa smartphoneandthephone has a barcode or QR code scanner application that reads the barcode data, decodes it, and shows it in the output window. So using these applications we can encode everythingthatwewanttoshowtothepersononlywhois interested to see or know about the topic. Instead of printing or showing unnecessary links or pages, we can provide the 2D barcode to the user. If he or she has an interest in the title of that, they can scan it from their mobile phone and see the content. It will also improve user experience. We can use this concept in places like blogs, restaurant menus, product offers, advertisements, andmuchmoreinpubliclyavailablecontent.

6. Advantages We Can Have:

6.1 Initially Barcodes and QR Codes are faster ways of authentication. With the implementation of programming andacameraasascanner,itgetsfaster.

6.2 Barcode authentication is an efficient and secure way of authentication but the application of python makes it moresecureanderror-freebecausewecanuseexceptionhandlingtechniques.

6.3 Camera vision is wider and more advanced so it is easy to authenticate barcodes and QR codes. Here we can authenticatemorethanonebarcodeatatime.

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN:2395-0056

6.4 Interfacing with various devices and technologies we can make more efficient and value-giving authentication systems.

7. Disadvantages We Should Improve:

7.1 Inproductswherebarcodesareprinted,ifthesection is somehow scratched or damaged, the barcode gets damaged. In this kind of case, the information links are alsodestroyedwiththebarcodeandthereisnootherway toretrieveit.

7.2 In 1D barcodes, the information about expiry date or ingredientlist, etc.cannot be encodedso 1D barcodesare gettingreplacedby2Dbarcodes.

7.3 For very small businesses, it is very much expensive technology to use. For authentication purposes, they can use normal barcode scanning techniques but the system wearethinkingaboutwillbemuchmorecostlyforthem.

REFERENCES

[1] Barcode Recognition System, N. M. Z. Hashim, N. A. Ibrahim,N.M.Saad,F.Sakaguchi,Z.Zakaria

[2] Barcode Based Student Recognition System, Samira Nigrel,AkshayKumarPrajapati,KunalLad,SachinJhaveri

[3] DataStructuresandAlgorithmsinPython,1stEdition5July2013MichaelT.Goodrich,RobertoTmassia,Michael H.Goldwasser

[4] IoT(Internet of things) and Its Application_0 LEVEL Book M4:R5_BILINGUAL BOOK(ENGLISH-HINDI) by T BALAJIPUBLICATION

Volume: 09 Issue: 12 | Dec 2022 www.irjet.net p-ISSN:2395-0072 © 2022, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.529 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 1137