Project Definition
- Sort 2 sizes (8 & 12 oz) of jars
- Checks integrity of lid
- Should sort jars in sub 3 seconds but will be less than 5
- No damage or spilling of contents of jars
- Cheap
- Reliable
Initial Concept Sketch
Final Concept Sketch
Sensing and Design
- Using gravity was determined to be the easiest way to make the jars slide through the system, cheap, simple, and minimal moving parts.
- Color-Based vision camera using a Pixi cam and Arduino to detect the lid.
- Three through beam sensors to detect the size of jar and if the lid was cross threaded.
- One pneumatic actuator to guide the jars
Final Result
The photos and video below show the sorter in its final state, we successfully created a sorting machine that can sort about as fast as you can feed the jars. The final product was within a 2ft x 1ft x 1ft footprint blowing, significantly smaller than any other sorting machine. This project exceeded the needs and goals of introductory class but was well worth as it professors and faculty admired the design and we really impressed ourselves and created something we were all very proud of.
