Marble Sorting Machine
Recycling is a good way to reuse materials that can be broken down and turned into something else, but sorting through these materials after they reach sorting facilities can be a problem. The design problem we were aiming to address in this project was to build a machine, using a VEX robotics kit, that could autonomously sort several marbles of different materials (each representing a recyclable material) into their own separate designated bins. Additional constraints were that our machine must retain full control of the marbles at all times, which means no throwing, flinging, bouncing, or any similar action, our machine must successfully sort the marbles from a commingled state, it must be able to identify and separate at least four of the five materials (aluminum, steel, wood, opaque white plastic, and semi-translucent clear plastic) from one another, and it must do all of this in under two minutes. Usually in projects such as this we learn how to apply new principles, work with new materials, or work with new people, but this project provided a unique opportunity to learn a different sort of lesson. In this project we got some real world experience as we were pitted up against a tight schedule and a rigid deadline. I learned a lot about time management and time saving strategy. For more detail, see the copy of my project report below. You can also find a brief video of our marble sorter at work (although the number of properly working functions is very limited).
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