AIDC is the short term of Automatic Identification and Data Collection. It is an advanced technology which aids to find the objects, gather related information, saves and prints the information in computer systems. The other name of AIDC is Automatic Identification and Data Capturing technology. In this technology, it reduces human work and functions on own. Human involvement is required only while scanning. The system will automatically print information into computer systems.
Identification data is the information connected with the object. The data differ in forms like fingerprints, voice or images. The data you enter will be changed into a digital file and then it will be entered in the computer. To convert the original into a digital file, a transducer is employed to accomplish this task. The computer can analyze the stored information file. It can also be matched with other files after entering the information into the computer. Thus, it offers access to passing into a protected system.
There are three principal components of Automatic Identification and Data Collection technology.
Data encoding: In the data encoding process, the alphanumeric characters get translated into machine-readable form.
Machine scanning: It is the second level where the encoded data is read by the machine scanner, thereby converting the data to electric signals.
Data decoding: As the name implies, in this level, the electric signals will be converted into digital data and later it gets changed into alphanumeric characters.
Different Kinds of AIDS Technologies Used for Data Capturing:
· RTLS (Real Time Locating Systems)
· EAS (Electronic Article Surveillance)
· Voice Recognition
· Smart Cards
· OCR (Optical Character Recognition)
· Magnetic Stripes
· Biometrics
· RFIS (Radio Frequency Identification)
· Barcodes

Let us look about these technologies and their functions in detail.
Barcodes: Barcodes are scanned using special optical scanners referred to as barcode readers. It is a readable information and information is about the article fixed to the barcode. If you have visited supermarkets, you can find a lot of items with barcodes. The barcode reader has a laser beam and it translates the images into digital information and transfers to the computer.
Barcode technology standards describe:
· Rules and methods for marking or printing
· Rules for calculating the quality of marked and printed symbols
· Decoding and reading techniques
· Rules for representing information in an optically legible format
Biometrics: Biometrics involves recognition of a person. It compares stored data with the captured biological information of the individual. The biometric system contains a reader or scanning device with software. It helps in converting the scanned biological information like fingerprints to the digital layout. It is mandatory to add the biometric information to get the biometric data of an individual at the later date. The information will be noticed and compared with the stored information. It is important to enroll data for late detection and comparison. Iris recognition, palm print recognition, face recognition and fingerprint recognition are some of the popular kinds of biometric systems that comes within the AIDC world.

Smart Cards: When you notice your smart card, you can see a small chip with an integrated circuit. Smart cards stores information and when there is a need, the data can be transferred to a computer system. It is capable of storing data for application processing and identification.