Count Small Parts in Style with Ryan Bates’ Automated Contraption

Ryan Bates makes extraordinary kits for arcade cabinets as well as other related accessories. The problem with this is that in doing so he has to count out a lot of nuts. So much so in fact that he decided it was worth it to make a machine that does this task for him.

What he came up with is an Arduino-powered device that rotates nuts on a spinning platter into a slide fixture that separates them. The idea is based off of a pill counting machine, and different nuts can be counted by adjusting the position of the separation fixture. With the nuts properly spaced, they can be counted using an induction — or prox — sensor, giving quite good accuracy, especially when running larger components.

A master Arduino is used to count the parts, index the cups that they drop into, and control the main platter servo indirectly via a relay. A slave Arduino takes care of actually driving the main platter when the relay is engaged.

Watching this, you may wonder why he didn’t just buy a machine or use a fulfillment house. The answer, of course, is a limited budget, and that just spending money would make a much less interesting YouTube video. This, of course, isn’t his first try at a counting machine, you can find his first attempt here.