System and method for locating and decoding unreadable data matrices

A decoding system for an optical identifier, the decoding system comprising:

• a feature detection module configured to locate an optical identifier on an item in a captured image, wherein the optical identifier contains encoded data, wherein the encoded data includes information about the item, wherein the optical identifier includes a plurality of cells, and wherein each of the plurality of cells has one of a first state and a second state;
• an enhancement module configured to generate an enhanced optical identifier by selectively mapping each of the plurality of cells to one of the first state and the second state based on states of neighboring ones of the plurality of cells;
• and
• a decoder module configured to decode the encoded data contained in the enhanced optical identifier to output the information about the item,
• wherein the enhancement module is configured to map each of the plurality of cells of the optical identifier to a grayscale value,
• wherein the first state corresponds to black and the second state corresponds to white, and wherein the enhancement module is configured to map each of the plurality of cells as black or white based on grayscale values of the neighboring ones of the plurality of cells, and
• wherein the optical identifier includes a predetermined pattern, wherein the predetermined pattern includes a plurality of at least one of known black cells and known white cells, and wherein the enhancement module is configured to map each of the plurality of cells as black or white based on grayscale values of the at least one of the known black cells and the known white cells of the predetermined pattern.