Hardware Overview
GateKeeper Conveyor uses several types of hardware devices to read barcodes, RFID tags, control conveyors, and provide visual feedback to operators. This page summarizes all hardware types and which sites use them.
Hardware by Category
Cameras (Barcode Scanners)
| Device |
Connection |
What It Does |
Sites |
| Cognex DataMan (DM374/DM375) |
TCP/IP (port 23) |
Reads 1D and 2D barcodes |
Hormel (all), Cargill St. Clair, Cargill Oil sites |
| Cognex Insight (8000 series) |
TCP/IP (port 8890) |
Reads barcodes via OCR + captures images |
Cargill Hersey |
| Zebra FS40 |
TCP/IP (port 2001/2002) |
Fixed industrial barcode scanner |
Zebra Futures Lab |
| Zebra DS9908R |
USB (SNAPI protocol) |
Hybrid barcode + RFID scanner |
Teasdale Carrollton |
RFID Readers
| Device |
Connection |
What It Does |
Sites |
| Zebra FX9600 |
TCP/IP (port 5084) |
Continuous RFID tag reading |
Cargill St. Clair, Cargill Oil sites |
| DS9908R (built-in) |
USB (SNAPI) |
RFID reading as part of barcode scan |
Teasdale Carrollton |
Controllers
| Device |
Connection |
What It Does |
Sites |
| Arduino Portenta H7 |
TCP/IP (port 502) |
Controls stack lights, reject, stop signals |
Cargill St. Clair, Cargill Oil, Hormel Austin/Beloit |
| LattePanda Delta 3 |
Serial USB (COM port) |
Controls stack lights, reject, stop signals |
Teasdale Carrollton |
Output Devices
| Device |
What It Does |
Sites |
| Stack Lights |
Green/Yellow/Red visual status |
All sites with controllers |
| BarTender Printing |
Label printing via REST API |
Teasdale Carrollton |
Hardware by Site
| Site |
Camera |
RFID |
Controller |
Other |
| Hormel Austin |
2x Cognex DataMan |
-- |
Arduino Portenta H7 |
-- |
| Hormel Beloit |
2x Cognex DataMan |
-- |
Arduino Portenta H7 |
-- |
| Hormel Barron |
2x Cognex DataMan |
-- |
Mock (Cognex I/O) |
Camera-based stack lights |
| Cargill St. Clair |
Cognex DataMan |
FX9600 |
Arduino Portenta H7 |
Matthews TCP |
| Cargill Oil (3 sites) |
Cognex DataMan |
FX9600 |
Arduino Portenta H7 |
Matthews TCP |
| Cargill Hersey |
Cognex Insight |
-- |
Arduino |
NetworkFileImporter |
| Zebra Futures Lab |
Zebra FS40 |
-- |
Mock |
ELO Status Light |
| Teasdale Carrollton |
Zebra DS9908R |
DS9908R (built-in) |
LattePanda Delta 3 |
BarTender printing |
How to Check Hardware Status
- Open the GateKeeper application.
- Open the Diagnostics Panel (accessible from the main screen).
- Each hardware device is listed with its connection status:
- Connected (green) -- device is online and working
- Disconnected (red) -- device is offline or cannot communicate
- The diagnostics panel also shows:
- Camera: last barcode read, manual trigger button
- RFID: tag cache contents, RSSI threshold
- Arduino/LattePanda: pin states, digital I/O controls
Connection Types
GateKeeper uses three types of hardware connections:
| Type |
Format |
Example |
Used By |
| TCP/IP |
IP:PORT |
192.168.100.200:23 |
Cognex cameras, FX9600, Portenta H7 |
| Serial USB |
COMx:BAUDRATE |
COM4:115200 |
LattePanda Delta 3 |
| USB (SNAPI) |
SNAPI |
SNAPI |
Zebra DS9908R |
General Troubleshooting
If a device shows as disconnected:
- Check physical connections -- cables, USB, power.
- Check network connectivity -- can you ping the device IP?
- Restart the GateKeeper application -- reconnection is attempted on startup.
- Check the log file -- search for the device name to find error details.
- Power cycle the device -- turn off, wait 10 seconds, turn back on.
If all devices fail to initialize, the log will show:
All hardware devices failed to initialize. Check connection strings and network connectivity.
If no hardware is configured, the log will show:
No hardware configurations found or all devices are disabled. Check appsettings.json HardwareSettings section.