Protótipo de um seletor automatizado de blocos por cores

Abstract

Product identification by color has increased due to high demand in pharmaceutical and food sectors. Additionally, manual sorting of products within industries has become unfeasible due to the physical and physiological limitations of humans when dealing with large production volumes. Thus, to avoid excessive time and energy expenditure, automated robotic implementations are utilized. To illustrate this procedure in a didactic manner, this work aims to develop a prototype of an automated color-selective conveyor belt, allowing for efficient separation of blocks with different colors, with higher productivity and a lower error rate. Furthermore, the project can be used to demonstrate electronics, programming, and automation concepts to other students. For the prototype, a robotic manipulator is used to transfer the blocks from the dispenser to the conveyor belt, introducing a differentiated approach to the automated process. Additionally, a conveyor belt is used to move the blocks, a TCS230 color sensor is employed to identify the block's color, selectors act as actuators to separate blocks with different colors, and an Arduino Mega is responsible for processing data received by the sensor, activating the actuators, and automatically controlling the movement of the robotic manipulator. The results indicate the proper functioning of the prototype, achieving a 97% accuracy rate in color separation.