Project 3.3.

1 Marble Sorter
Elizabeth Park
Team members: Beth Hosmer, Daniel Deng
POE
Block 7
Westwood High School
April 26, 2016

Design Problem:
Our goal is to design a machine that can separate marbles with different
materials and recycle it. The process must be automated, and end in two minutes. The
device must be able to separate commingled marbles. Only VEX components or
materials approved by the teacher can be used. A total of sixteen marbles of four or
more different materials have to be separated.
Brainstorming Idea:

The magnets attached below the incline plane will catch the steel marbles. The
other marbles will go down the plane in order and when a marbles hits the limits switch
at the end of the plane and the switch is pressed. The plate attached to the conveyor
belt will move where the first bin(White plastic) is located and drop the marble into the
bin. The bins are located right below and in front of the conveyor belt. The conveyor
belt will move the marble to the position above the bin that it should go in. The pusher
will push the marble so that it will drop into the bin.
The marbles that didnt pressed the switch on will be moved to the place where
they will be tested with the light sensor. When it meets certain value, it will drop the
marble to each bin. At last, the magnet will be detached and the steel balls will be
dropped into the last bin.

Decision Process
Time to
build

Speed to
complete task

Simplicity of
code

Simplicity of
design

Total

Daniel Deng

16

Elizabeth Park

14

Beth Hosmer

15

We scored our ideas based on the time to build it, speed, simplicity of code, and
simplicity of design. We chose time as our criteria because we had to build a machine
quickly enough to finish our project in given time. We also had to be aware of the speed
the machine runs to complete the task because one of our constraints required the
machine to complete the task in two minutes. Simplicity of code and simplicity of design
makes the machine for efficient. For each factor, we scored from zero to five. The
design with highest total score, which was Daniels, was chosen as our final design. But
we made some adjustments to Daniels idea by using Beths idea for distinguishing the
metal marbles.

Final Sketch
When we pour the marbles into the pouring bin the marble line-up--er will line up
the marbles in order. The marble separator will then separate a marble from the others
behind the line. The separated marble will be tested using flashlight and light sensor.
Once the value is detected from the light sensor, the bins will rotate to put the marbles
in the right bin using the values. Steel and aluminum marbles will be placed in the bin
with a hole and the marbles will travel down the inclined plane where they will be tested
with a magnet. The magnet will distinguish steel marbles from aluminum marbles.

ROBOTC Program

Design Modifications
One of the major modifications we made was magnet. We first tried a rotating
magnet that would catch the metal marble, and when it rotates and hits a bar the
marbles would drop. It was hard to place the rotating magnet because there was some
obstacles that blocked the magnet from catching the marble so we changed it. The
second idea we had was placing a conveyor belt that would move the metal and
aluminum marbles to a location where we can separate metal marbles using magnet.
The problem with the second idea was that once we catched the metal marbles with
magent we couldnt find a way to detach the marbles and make it drop to the cup.
Finally we decided to attach the magnet to the bottom of the cup and make a hole at
one end of the cup placing the cup a little angled so that the aluminum marbles can fall
down to the hole.
We also made modifications on the marble separator. The original marble
separator had two plates that were in parallel to each other exactly in same shape. The
problem with it was that they would go up and go down at the same time, so sometimes
more than one marble passed through it. To have only one marble at a time, we made
turned one of the plates so when the motor turns, one plate would go up letting the
marbles to fall down and one plate go down to stop the next marble from falling also.
We also made the space between the two plates wider so the marbles would fit in.
We added bushing to the side of marble tracks so that only one marble can fit in
the line, and in that way it would line the marbles. Another plate was attached at the
bottom to raise it up and have a space for motor to be attached below. We lowered the
inclined plate to make it less steep so that when the marbles roll down the plate they
wouldnt stack on top of the other.

Final Design

Our design was supposed to separate four marbles but couldnt separate any of
them. The marbles were correctly lined down the track and the marble separator worked
well. But there was something wrong with the codes and failed to place the marbles in
the right bin. Also, the magnet cup failed to separate the aluminum and metal marbles
because some aluminum marbles were stuck between the metal marbles and couldnt
fall down the hole.

Design Process

1.Define Problem
We identified the task we have to accomplish. We read through the constraints
and criteria written on the paper.
2.Generate Concepts
Each of our members brainstormed solutions and shared with other group
members. Then we used decision matrix to score our initial solutions based on the
constraints and criteria. We chose the one with highest score as our final solution.
3.Develop a Solution
We picked our final solution and made some adjustments. We drew our final
solution with all parts labeled and wrote a description about the process the machine
goes through and what each parts do. Before going on to constructing, we had to have
our solution approved by Mr. Landers.
4.Construct and Test Prototype
Once our final idea was approved we started to built the machine. We all had a
part to build and help each other when someone needed help. When we were almost
finishing building the machine, we started to work on the coding. We ran the codes and
made adjustments on some parts of the machine where it was needed.
5.Evaluate Solution
We tested our machine multiple times and searched for any errors. For the errors
we tried to find best solution possible and make adjustments.
6.Present Solution
On the presentation day, we first described about how our design was supposed
to work, the obstacles we encountered, and what it actually did. After that we ran our
machine.
Reflection
a. I would change the magnet cup that was used to separate the metal and
aluminum marbles because it didnt work consistently. Also, we couldnt detach
the metal marbles from the magnet.
b. The most challenging part of the project was separating aluminum and
metal marbles because the light values were similar so we couldnt use the light
sensor to separate them. The magnets didnt also separate them well.
c. I learned to design an idea and use VEX components to make a machine.
I also learned how to use software codes more deeply and how to use the
properties of materials and sensors to distinguish different types of marbles.
d. The challenges of working in a design team were that we had more
responsibility working as a group than working individually. It was challenging to
manage time because if someone was not done with their part we couldnt move
on.