MARBLE COUNTER

Background:

There are many industrial and business applications for devices which rapidly handle, count, and/or sort items. One example of a device which does all three is a coin counter such as that used in banks, which sorts coins into the various denominations and counts the number of each. In manufacturing applications, such a device might count out and deliver the correct number of products into a packaging container. This design project is intended to model such a materials handling and counting application.

Project:

Each EGR 3380 design team shall design, construct, and test a marble counter. The marbles represent manufactured products, such as ball bearings, which require accurate counting.

Specifications:

· The marble counter (hereafter called the device) shall count and display the count value of an amount of marbles between 1 and 100. The marbles are Marble Accents brand glass marbles and have diameters of 0.560 ± 0.015 inches (purchased from Michael’s hobby store on the corner of Valley Mills and Waco Drive).

· The marbles shall be delivered to the device by pouring from a Solo 16 oz. Plastic Party Cup (sample provided).

· The cup shall then be placed in position to receive the marbles output from the device.

· The operation of the device shall be initiated by a single electrical switching action. After initiation, the device shall process the marbles without further intervention by the operator.

· After all of the marbles have been processed, the operator shall turn off the device, if necessary, by a single electrical switching action. The operator shall then record the count value.

· The operation of the device shall not exceed a duration of one minute.

· The device shall be immediately ready to accept and process another batch of marbles.

· The device shall fit within a cube 20 inches on a side, shall be portable, and shall function on a standard desktop/tabletop.

· The device shall not present safety hazards to humans, nor shall it damage, disfigure, or mar the tabletop, the marbles, or the cup.