Turn Raspberry Pi Into Smart Barcode and QR Code Scanner

This IoT project transforms a Raspberry Pi 4 into a networked optical data capture system by integrating a CSI-interface camera module directly with Python software running on Raspberry Pi OS. The Raspberry Pi camera captures high-resolution video frames through a dedicated ribbon cable connector, routing the visual data straight to the processor via the Camera Serial Interface. OpenCV, a robust computer vision library, processes these frames in real-time using Python 3 to detect and decode optical machine-readable data, specifically standard barcodes and QR codes. Once a valid code is successfully recognized, the system executes backend logic to extract the encoded payload. It then logs the text data alongside a timestamp into an organized CSV file on the storage drive, while simultaneously saving a snapshot image of the scanned item for visual verification. To bridge local data logging with network accessibility, a lightweight Flask web server runs on the Raspberry Pi. This server allows remote devices connected to the same local network to interface with the scanner, view logged information, and access system telemetry over HTTP.