I need some help with the schematic, parts and code for the following
device for my graduation project:

1- The device needs to scan barcodes. Once the barcode is scanned, the
device will compare the barcode through a table lookup on internal
memory where a database of the barcodes exists. The corresponding
information on that barcode will be output to an LCD display.

2- The device has to be compact (i.e. pager size).

3- I can't afford buying expensive parts, so the cheaper the better.

Any help is very much appreciated.

As this is a school project, I'm not going to try and give any
specifics. However, I can point out some hints.

It would most likely help to have a microcontroller for the processing
and lookup, and external EEPROM for the data on each product/item.
Ubicom makes some good ones that can run rather fast.

The LCD should be very easy to work out, just get a serial interface one.
As for reading barcodes themselves, if I'm not mistaken, there are
some TTL chips out there that can read barcodes given the necesary
hardware and connections.

Hello cjmovie,

Thanks for the comment. I was thinking along the same lines regarding
the components i.e. microcontroller, EEPROM and LCD. I didn't look at
the Ubicom EEPROM's before so i'll be doing that now.

I have been facing difficulties building the barcode reading module. I
couldn't find the chips that can read the barcodes, all i found were
the OEM ones that are very expensive to get. Could you give me more
help or guidelines on the design required for this?

I appreciate your help.