Qirab™ Manuscript Digitsation Workflow
An open-source digitisation workflow built around the Qirab™ hardware designs
Qirab™ Digitisation Column - QDC100
An open-source motorized vertical column camera support design for imaging maunscripts and fragile books
Introduction
The Qirab™ Digitisation Column (QDC100) is an 100cm tall open-source motorized vertical column camera support specifically designed for use while imaging manuscripts and fragile books.
It provides a stable, safe, and adjustable camera platform to facilitate precise imaging when used in combination with the Qirab Conservation Cradle QCC50 as a manuscript support.
Qirab released the design under a Creative Commons license for anyone to download and construct their own QDC100 from common materials and 3D printed parts.
As a complement to the QDC100, Qirab developed a Manuscript Digitisation Workflow and tested it as part of a manuscript preservation & digitisation case study at the Academy of Arabic Language in Cairo, Egypt.
The successful two-year testing of the Qirab ideas culminated in the academy’s 61 manuscripts being made available on Archive.org.
Design
The design of the QDC100 design was conceived with manual manuscript Digitisation in mind.
Key features of the QDC100 include:
- 100 cm vertical camera column
- Motorized vertical movement with 0.5 mm increments
- Safety stop switches at top and bottom. (The height of the lower switch can be adjusted to insure the camera does not touch the object being imaged.)
- Manual horizontal camera positioning
- Adjustable feet
- Height reference ruler
Materials
The QDC100 is built from commodity and open source materials which should be available in most places.
The major components include:
- Openbuilds C-Beam Linear Actuator assembly with a NEMA stepper motor
- Arduino Nano microcontroller
- Manfrotto 323 Quick Release Plate
- Manfotto 035 Super Clamps (or equivalent) to support lights
- IKEA black worktop (or suitable substitute)
- 3D printed parts (feet, buttons, slider, electronics box, wire guides, motor cover)
A full bill-of-materials is included with the design download.
Download
The CAD designs, 3D printable files, Bill of Materials, and Assembly Instructions for how to build the Qirab™ Digitisation Column QDC100 are available on the Qirab Github.
We are open to including community improvements or tool designs in future versions of the QDC100.
License
The Qirab™ Digitisation Column (QDC100) design is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 