I would like to makr a sorting machine that would sort almonds. The almonds will move in one single row wide as an almond i would like to put a color sensor on top of this row of almonds when the color sensor detects a almond that has brown skin removed and is white it will send a signal to a air valve which will shoot out that white almond . how can i make this any help would be great
Sorry I can't help but I'm doing something similar and just want to see the replies.
But it does occur to me that you might not need a colour sensor: a simpler ir sensor may distinguish between the dark (brown) and light (white) almonds, provided the background (conveyor? chute?) is seen as light as well and doesn't trigger false positives. (Something like the sensors in line-following robots which distinguish light from dark.)
You have me thinking now about air ;). My current thinking was servos to open and close sorting gates.
Yeah i seen some pneumatic electric air valves if the sensor gives it a signal it shoots out air and blows it away lets wait and see if we get more help
You might be able to get away with a single pixel RGB color sensor, like this one but if object size matters, consider the Arduino compatible Pixy (cmucam5).
Colorsorting:
seen some pneumatic electric air valves
You got some links?
Here one i seen
We need to find a sensor to tell that valve to open when it sees the white or chipped almond
Link wont work put this in google
Controlling Pneumatic Solenoid Valve with Arduino using Transistor
Colorsorting:
We need to find a sensor to tell that valve to open when it sees the white or chipped almond
If I were you I'd order a couple of cheap sensors like this and test it. I doubt if anyone here has specific experience of sensing almonds, so the only way is to test some varieties of sensor and see which gives reliable readings. I'd definitely try a black/white one first though, cheaper and simpler.
Driving the solenoid's easy: just turn a digital output pin off and on based on the state of the input sensor, adding some timing to make sure it puffs the almond far enough. But for simple testing that can just be an LED to mimic the solenoid.
Yep maybe i will buy one does all this come in a kit or do i buy sensor and board seperate any ideas on which i should try
Colorsorting:
do i buy sensor and board seperate
By "board" you mean the Arduino itself? Well there are starter kits, but they contain a whole load of stuff like motors and servos usually, which might be a waste, but maybe good for you to experiment with. You'll need to get at least say an Uno, a selection of resistors and LEDs- Sparkfun have a handy cardboard folder of resistors- and probably a breadboard and a bunch of breadboard wires and jumpers.
For when you hook up the solenoid, you'll need to get a suitable transistor and diode for that.
You should have a google for infrared reflective sensors, and see what their ranges are: the one I gave earlier says 3mm but this one looks like it might work a bit further.
Well is there like a board or something that controls the sensor or is that the arduino sorry just starting and the transistor and diode is bought aftet i pick a seloiniod so its compatable or ??
Is the 3mm the distance from where it can detect color or how fast it sees it ?
The sensor is read by the Arduino. Then the Arduino ponders that reading and perhaps readings from other sensors (but in your case probably not), then decides what to do, and instructs the solenoid accordingly.
And yeah the transistor needs to cater for the voltage and current of the solenoid.
If I were you I'd get a starter kit (look at sparkfun and adafruit) and learn the basics, even if you don't use all the parts. And at the same time order one or other ir sensor if not in the kit: even if it's not the one you end up using in real life it will prove how the thing works.
Sparkfun have a 5V solenoid which you could use as proof of concept. I think it would work with an IRL520N mosfet (transistor) and a 1N4001 diode. You would need a battery for that, don't power it from the Arduino, it would be ok with 4x1.5 for 6v. (Sparkfun video runs it at 13)
3m is the distance at which the reflected light will reliably return to the sensor, the distance to the almond then.
Sounds good i will order one and post how it works
manor_royal:
Sorry I can't help but I'm doing something similar and just want to see the replies.But it does occur to me that you might not need a colour sensor: a simpler ir sensor may distinguish between the dark (brown) and light (white) almonds, provided the background (conveyor? chute?) is seen as light as well and doesn't trigger false positives. (Something like the sensors in line-following robots which distinguish light from dark.)
You have me thinking now about air ;). My current thinking was servos to open and close sorting gates.
From your comments it looks like you can handle code and wiring beyond beginner stage.
Some things that look dark may still reflect IR. A cheap regular phototransistor senses visible light. You can put one in a short tube to restrict the view and rely on overhead lights or a white led to illuminate the subject.
You don't need a controller and code to test the sensor. Make a circuit that uses it to power a led (5V and a 1k resistor) that turns off when you cover the sensor and on when it gets light. You may need to vary how brightly lit the subject (almond, whatever) is to not read HIGH for the darker ones.
For industrial use you'd want another sensor checking that the illumination source is working and stop the line when (not if) it fails.
If you want to sense colors, regular colored-bulb leds can be used though a read might take a ms or two. The subject is covered in the Arduino Playground section of the Arduino site. I've seen on the web one project that uses them to test liquids in clear bottles by spectral absorption. That was years ago.
Is it possible to hook up a high speed sick color sensor to arduino?? Or a ccd camera ?
-jim lee
Jim u think that one would do the job, i seen some high speed sick sensors those wont work or the almonds will be moving in one line on a black belt the sensor will be on top of that one row, because of the one row i wanted to speed it up