OMR (Optical Mark Recognition with Simple Scanner)

Journal of Advances in Computational Research: An International Journal
Vol. 1 No. 1-2 (January-December, 2012)
OMR (Optical Mark Recognition with Simple Scanner)
Tanvi Sharma 1 and Prof. Niket Bhargava 2
1 M.Tech., Student, 2 Dept. of CSE
Bansal Institute of Science and Technology, Bhopal.
Email: tanvi.bhardwaj@gmail.com, niket.bhargava@rediffmail.com
Abstract
In this fast and furious era ubiquitous computing is growing so extensively and every manual
works are shifting towards computerized work. People don’t want to invest their time in
processing they just want to give an input and take an output immediately. And by the help of
machines we can reduce the processing time. The OMR sheet can be scanned by any simple
scanner and by the use of this System it can be easily assessed also the result can be put into the
database of the system. The Software is designed to serve that entire organization who conducts
their exam on OMR sheet. Different organizations could use to assess and evaluate their answer
sheet on various scales and Parameters. The system could help in many ways and could turn out
to be a revelation for the Organizations and also for the HR people.
Key Words:- DBMS, .NET, OMR, Scanner, Software methodologies.
1. Introduction
In today’s world where vacancies are very less and
the applicants are numerous. Organization need to
filter out the candidates for any vacancy. The most
effective way to filter out the candidates is through
the test. But again evaluation of those answer sheet is
a very big deal.
One of the main objectives of implementing such
OMR system is to minimize the time and cost for the
evaluation of the OMR answer sheet. The system is
aimed to reduce the manual work and human effort
and it tends more towards accuracy in terms of
assessment. The answer sheet can be scanned by the
simple scanner and then by the use of the OMR
software the answer sheet can be evaluated [1].
At present no such a system available which can
evaluate the answer sheet scanned by the simple
scanner. The existing system requires special
hardware which turns out to be very costly for any
mediomre organization. So using such a system may
be cost inefficient or not feasible by organizations it
is the need of the hour to develop system which
would be cost effective and time effective in other
words cheap and best. Besides, in today’s
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competitive climate, where a single marks can decide
the future of candidates. The organization can not
rely totally on the manual work. Because manual
work cannot be totally error free. So OMR can be
used to yield error free and reliable result.
Fundamentally the main objective of this project is to
develop a system which facilitates the OMR answer
sheet evaluation technique which must be feasible
and efficient. Evaluation of OMR answer sheet could
be done by the simple scanned image of that sheet
using simple scanner. The objective is to eliminate
the use of dedicated hardware which in turns very
costly.
2. Functionality of the system
The underlying principle of this evaluation is it will
compare the given scanned image to its previously
stored template. And mark the answer sheet on the
basis of the template and given criteria by the user.
So the prerequisite for any answer sheet assessment
is that the system needs a template of OMR answer
sheet having correctly mark answers and marking

criteria which must be feed into the system by the
users.
We present system scope: By having the idea of the
system which would facilitates the OMR answer
sheet evaluation technique which must be feasible
and efficient. Therefore system includes the main
following modules:-
i.) Answer Feed Module
ii.) Criteria Defining Module
iii.) Assessment Module
iv.) Result Storage Module
v.) Publish Result Module
Limitation of the system:
One of the main limitations which the system posses
the answer sheet which would be assess by the
system should be straight and clean. It must not be
tore and tear also it must not be folded.
Assumption made:
In order to take the best output from the system the
scanning should be performed very carefully and the
image should not be tilted. It is prior be assumed that
the scanned image is well and error free.
According to my system, four types of feasibility
studies can be considered:
� Technical Feasibility
� Operational Feasibility
� Economic Feasibility
� Schedule Feasibility
3. Importance of the identified problem
There are many currently existing problem which
compels the developer to develop a system to give a
best solution to all of those problems, why they are
important and their justification of the studies are
given below:
Many organizations is using manual assessment of
OMR answer sheet. Now day’s things are shifting
towards machinery and everyone wants instant result
due to this limited capability human cannot cop up so
machinery solution is required.
The human evaluation is more prone to error. So here
is a dire need of OMR (with simple scanner solution)
The organization, schools, and recruiting agencies all
are shifting from the subjective examination to
objective examination because of the instant result.
The existing software is very costly due to its
dedicated hardware so small organization cannot
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afford it and at the same time maintenance of this
dedicated device is also very costly.
Nature of challenges: A sort of image processing is
involved in the system which is absolutely very
interesting and challenging.
� General and computing challenges:-
Number of challenges to be faced-
1. learning curve of new concepts
2. Implementing efficient algorithms
3. Using new tools and mastering known tools
Programming skills & Algorithms:-
� The programming language can easily
handle image processing like C# using .NET
frame work which provides a conducive
environment to develop the system [2].
� Designing of the algorithms to calculate the
nature of the pixels of the image is very
challenging. Again interpretation of the
pixels that is their color like black and white
and on the basis of the evaluation of the
correct options is very tedious job.
Hardware required:
OMR (with simple scanner) runs on any computer
running on windows. All current day PC
configurations are fine enough for this software to
work. For scanning of OMR sheets any normal
flatbed scanner or ADF scanner (Automatic
Document Feeder) can be used. Scanning and reading
of OMR sheets are two independent processes and
the OMR software needs no integration with the
scanner.
4. Development Framework and language:
Heart of Microsoft .NET is the .NET Framework,
consisting of the common language runtime and the
class libraries. These components provide execution
engine and programming APIs for building .NET
applications [2]. .NET Framework are compiled to an
intermediate language called Microsoft Intermediate
Language (MSIL). The CLR is responsible for
providing low-level execution services, such as
garbage collection, exception handling, security
services, and runtime type-safety checking. .NET
Framework includes class libraries which provide
wide range of tasks, including data access, security,

file IO, XML manipulation, messaging, class
reflection, XML Web services, user-interface
construction, text processing, ASP.NET, and
Microsoft Windows services. It supports multiple
languages.(four commercial languages: Visual C#
.NET, Visual Basic .NET, the Managed Extensions
for C++, and Visual J# .NET) also supports 20
Programming languages.
Database Management System:-
Selection of the database includes many things in
concern some of the following are discussed below:
The most important thing is compatibility of the
database with the front-end [3] . Compatible
database must use in order to avoid including
additional library.
Secondly the most important thing is the amount of
data organization deal with daily or the maximum
storage capacity required [4]. The organization also
some of the fundamental things in their mind while
selecting database like security, robustness,
efficiency and cost effectiveness.
SQL Server 2005 as a back-end:
So after the huge research developer is decided to use
SQL Server 2005 as a back-end for the development
of OMR (with simple scanner). There are following
reasons to select it as backend:
The SQL Sever2005 is easily compatible with .NET
platform because they both belong to the same
vendor Microsoft.
The OMR (with simple scanner) have to assess many
answer sheets and keep record to all of those
applicants. So it was required a database having huge
storing capacity and SQL Server 2005 is most
suitable for that.
SQL Server 2005 is generally accepted as easier to
install, use and manage.
System development Methodology:
Using of Software engineering for selected process
techniques to improve the quality of a software
development effort. Software development
methodology at this moment of productively
initialize, build up and finish the software
development process [5]
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Spiral Model:
Rapid Application Development:
UML:
� It is an “object modeling" technique.
� Its classes of entity objects are entities, and
its associations are relationships [6].
PURPOSE: To present a graphical overview of the
functionality provided by a system.
• Advantages of using UML:
• It’s a formal language
• It’s concise
• It’s comprehensive
• It’s scalable
• UML supports OOP’s languages such as
VB.Net [1]
Testing used:
o Unit Testing
o Integration Testing
o Usability Testing
o Compatibility Testing [7].
OMR (with simple scanner) is not only dedicated for
the small organization having small budget but also
big organizations conducting tests having huge
number of applicants can also use it. There are many
advantages involved in the use of OMR (with simple
scanner). Its evaluation is accurate, time effective and
cost effective. For the use of the system no dedicated
OMR device required. The scanning can be
performed through simple scanner. The advance and
high speed scanner provide good speed to the system.
The system efficiency depends a lot on the speed of
the scanner. It is very easy to operate. The OMR

(with simple scanner) have extensive use in the
market. It can be used for following purposes:
Education, School and Commercial.
5. Conclusion
This project has a single developer which works on
the different role of software development on the
basis of software development life cycle, like for a
designer to a tester. Skills improved like
programming skills, analytical skills, and problem
solving skills. Working with .net using c# is quite
interesting and very entertaining and cheering time
for me in order to use the functionality and feature of
the language. After completion of the project, the
developer realized that it experiences an
indispensable before entering into corporate world.
6. References
[1] Infotronicx. (2010). OMR system. Available:
http://omrsystem.com/home/index.php?option=com_
content&view=article&id=23&Itemid=30.
[2] Microsoft. (2010). Moving Java Applications
to.NET. Available: http://msdn.microsoft. com/enus/
library/ms973842.aspx
[3] Fairley R. (2002) Software Engineering Concepts
(For project size) New York: Tata MaGraw Hills.
[4] Pressman Roger S. (2001) Software Engineering-
A Practitioner’s Approach- Fifth Edition, New York:
Tata Ma Graw Hill.
[5] Jalote P. (2005) Software Project Management In
Practices-3rdEdition, United States of America:
Springer Science + Business Media, Inc.
[6] Software Project Management – A Unified
Framework by Walker Royce.
[7] Hoffer JA,George JE, Valacich JS, 1999, Modern
System analysis and design.
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