Concept

Our candy sorter is able to sort Hershey's kisses, Snickers bars and Reese's cups. By using a reflectance sensor, it can distinguish between each of the candies and will place each in its appropriate bowl.

The reflectance sensor is a crude distance sensor. Depending on the size of the candy placed in between the sensor and the backboard, the robot can identify the different candies because they varied quite significantly in size. When a candy is placed between the sensor and the backboard, the handyboard would print out the reading difference, letting the audience know which candy it thinks it has.

Once it identifies the candy, the horizontal motor would turn on for a designated amount of time in the correct direction, positioning the sorter in front of the appropriate bowl. Once it stops, the rotational motor would turn on, turning the rotating lever, and the lever will push the hinged platform up, depositing the candy.

The platform on which the candy is placed is a hinged platform that can flip back and forth with the rotating lever. A touch sensor placed at the tip of the hinged platform can turn the rotating lever off when it has completed the full circle. This way, the rotating lever will always end up at the same position and not get caught with the hinged platform.

The robot is initially placed in front of the Hershey's kisses bowl. If the candy to be identified is identified to be a Hershey's kiss, the rotating lever would just turn on and place the candy into the bowl right in front of it. If the candy is either a Reese's Cup or a Snickers bar, the robot would move left or right (respectively) and deposit the candy. After the candy is deposited, the robot would then return to its original position, give a beep to indicate that it is ready to sort again.

Because the distance the robot moves is based on the time the motor is turned on, it is very important for the bowls to be placed equidistant from one another. This would minimize the problem of the candy being deposited outside the bowl.