I'm a competitive shooter and I reload my own ammunition. One day an idea struck me to have an Arduino based system installed on the reloading press. The system keeps an eye on primers being low, gunpowder being low, that there is a powder in the case before bullet is added on (very important as no powder bullet will have enough force from the primer alone to be driven into the barrel but not enough to go completely through and the next shot fires into it and at best you just blow up your gun, at worst, well you get the picture). Also I didn't like that I had to load cases and bullets by hand so I designed and and wired to the controler two automatic collators for them. It automatically orients them in the right way and drops them down to the press and stops once there is enough of them. The whole system has audio and visual indicators. Code is all done too.
I got a messy prototype working with a lot of 3d printed parts. Now I need to streamline the design, so I will use Atmel 328 chip instead the whole arduino. For now I work with dip28 package but ultimately will move to quad pack smd to shrink down the design. The design bellow includes power regulation as I need 12v for two 5rpm motors and want to drive all of it with a single wall pack. My amp estimates puts me with everything running at around 500 milliamps.
I'm also trying to figure out which software to use to design pcb so I can have them done professionally as several of my friends express that they want this system for their presses. I don't want to use Eagle as its too complex. I'm trying KiCad, Fritzing, and EasyEDA. I've been using ExpressPCB software but it locks me in with that manufacturer and they are somewhat expensive.
Anyway, take a look at the schematic and see what you think. I'll try to post some pics and maybe vid of the prototype in action.
Reloader.pdf (45.2 KB)