War. Famine. Drought. Imagine Dragons. The world is full of horror and what better way to assuage that grief then by watching this M&M and Skittles sorting machine do its amazing work in real time.
Created by Willem Pennings the system is surprisingly robust and very well made. You can pour unsorted M&Ms into the top of the machine and a little nozzle spits out sorted candies into little dishes.
“It takes approximately 2-3 minutes to sort a 300 g bag of Skittles / M&M’s and sorts about 2 pieces per second. The machine is 250 mm in diameter and approximately 300 mm in height,” writes Pennings. The system uses an RGB sensor to assess the color of the candy and place it into the proper dish.
The machine itself is beautifully-made with a handsome painted wooden case and 3D printed internal machinery. The sorter uses two Arduino Nanos and two EasyDrivers to control the sensor and the motors. A strip of LED lights remind us that even in the darkest of times a pale blue light will shine through, guiding us to a sorted-Skittle future.
Pennings has posted is entire build here which means you and yours can bring the joy of candy sorting to your village.
Now for the bad news. Unfortunately this machine cannot really segregate a mixed collection of Skittles and M&Ms – a horrific doomsday scenario that science has yet to crack. However we can all rest easy knowing that the terror we feel when spotting an unsorted collection of small candies in the wild can be soothed. Remember: all it takes to change the world is a dream, a clever young person, and a 3D printed nozzle.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceGlMV4sHnk]
