A Portable Tracking System Based on Discrete Matrix Information Code for Prevention of Fleeing Goods

This article introduces a product traceability system based on the Internet of Things. The system uses computer vision to identify the characteristics of the Reed–Solomon (RS) code printed on the product packaging box to trace the origin of the product and then prevent fleeing goods. The traceability information combined with the RS code is marked by the outer packaging during the production process of the product. At the same time, product information will be registered on the back-end server in the cloud. When verifying product information, the user can obtain the features on the package through a portable device such as a mobile phone. Then, the computer vision algorithm in the cloud is connected to the network to automatically extract the information code and verify it. By comparing the extracted decoded information with the encoded information, which is registered, the production information and transportation information as well as anticounterfeiting information of the product can be obtained. Our well-designed tracking system can effectively combat the problems that may be encountered during information verification, such as malicious destruction of packaging information, packaging wear, and low quality of user photos. Finally, our experiments show that the system built by RS discrete matrix information code can trace and verify product information quickly and effectively with an anti-interference ability.