PC Based Mark Reader

Group No. 8

Project guide: Ms. Sana Ansari

Members:Rohan C.PintoVinay D. MahadikAnup A. PawaskarAbhishek H. Arekar

OUTLINE FOR THE PRESENTATION

Concept Overview of OMR OMR Advantages and Disadvantages Working of PC based mark reader Process Flow Basic System Modules Flowcharts for Implementation and result generation

logic Algorithm for marks generation Software Used Results and test cases Applications of the software Advantages of a PC Based Mark Reader References

OMR stands for Optical Mark Reading

The process of capturing human marked data by contrasting reflectivity at predetermined positions on a page

Sometimes Referred to as Optical Mark Recognition

Concept of OMR

Overview of OMR

An OMR machine “Reads” marked information in the form of numbers or letters and puts it into the computer

The “marks” (made by either a pen or a pencil) have to be precisely located

Timing tracks indicate where to read for marks and indicate where to clip images

OMR has specifically placed LEDs

LEDs sense marks in certain columns once a timing track is detected

Software interprets the output from the scan and translates it to the desired format (e.g. ASCII)

Timing Tracks

OMR is a data collection technology that does not require a recognition engine

Therefore:◦ It is fast

◦ Capture speeds range around 4000 forms per hour

◦ Using minimum processing power to process forms

OMR Advantages

Disadvantages:

High costs for buying an OMR machine

High quality (NCS compatible) forms

Images of forms are not captured so electronic retrieval is impossible

OMR Disadvantages

An alternative for the OMR

Use the scanned image for evaluation

Need to use only a Personal Computer and a Scanner

The process comprises of:

1. Scanning2.Feeding-in the answer key3.Evaluating the image through comparison with

the answer–key 4.Generating results and storing Results into a

Database

So how is a PC based mark reader different from an OMR?

Process Flow

Module 1: Insertion

image stored in the source folder is taken as input

Faulty alignment can be detected

The reference point is evaluated

Basic system modules

Module 2: Evaluation

Evaluate seat number

Evaluate answers marked

Answers and seat number stored in a table

If the answer(s) is not properly marked then that particular answer is ignored.

Module 3: Result Generation

Entries in the database is checked with the help of the answer_key table

The result is stored in a separate table called result

Implementation Logic

Thresholding The input to a thresholding operation is

typically a grayscale or a color image In the simplest implementation, the output

is a binary image representing the segmentation

Dilation is a morphological operation that adds pixels to the boundaries of objects in an image

It is used to fill stray pixels inside the bubbles after the image has been subject to thresholding

Dilation

Result Generation

Logic

1. Load the image from the image folder

2. Perform Thresholding on the image

3. Perform Dilation on the image

4. Check for the top left reference point 4.1 If not found then reject the image 4.2 Else check the bottom right reference point

4.2.1 If found at the appropriate position continue scanning

4.2.2 Else reject the image

Algorithm for marks generation

5. Using the reference points obtained calculate position of the seat number

6. Go to the first circle of the seat number

7. Evaluate the seat number 7.1 If an error is obtained display error and exit 7.2 Else save the seat number in a temporary variable

8. Evaluate the answers present 8.1 If error is obtained in the answer don’t increment the temp variable

9. Save the temp seat number and corresponding marks in the scanned result table

10. Generate total marks for corresponding Seat No. using the master Q/A table

The program was written in C#

The answer sheet was designed in CorelDraw

Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 was the our project’s main IDE

MySQL Server 5.1 & MySQL Administrator suite (Workbench OSS 5.2) for the database

Software Used

Snapshots of results

Sample Answer Sheet

Main Application

Answer Key Window

Modify Answer Key tab:

Answer Key tab:

Results tab:

Generate Result Window

Student Records tab:

Loaded Answer Sheet

Test CasesSingle Image scanned:

Multiple Images scanned:

Seat Errors:

Evaluation of Multiple Choice Question Based Examinations

Attendance marking

Surveys

Lottery

Applications of this software

No extra hardware cost

A great economical option for schools, colleges and smaller institutions

The user can use any quality of paper as per convenience

An electronic copy of the result sheet will be available for later reference

Advantage of this software over commercially available options

msdn.microsoft.com/hi-in/vcsharp www.mysql.com www.codeproject.com www.wikipedia.org www.scantron.com www.dovesoftindia.com Professional C# 2008 (Wrox Programming Guide) Microsoft Visual C# 2008 –by John Sharp

References

Thank You