Barcode laser marking
A barcode is a type of industrial identifier. It is made of a series of lines with different widths and spaces to encode information. It allows the encoding of alphanumeric data.
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A 1D barcode is generally detected with a laser based detector that scans a laser beam across the lines of the barcode. The reading is based on the time between the detection of the reflected signal from the black and white lines (black reflects much less laser energy than the white spaces between the lines). This time signal is analysed to find the coded message.
Different types of readers based on image analysis are also available. The 1D barcode works better on a flat surface. If the surface is rough or presents cracks, the 1D barcode can be more difficult to detect. In this case one could increase the size of the code to obtain better detection results or use a different kind of identifier such as a 2D code or an alphanumeric serial number. It is important to understand that the bigger the identifier is, the more time it requires to mark it. For a given identifier type and size, the time necessary to mark it is proportional to the power of the laser marking machine.