“In this project, we build a Raspberry Pi M&M Color Sorter to sort red and green M&M’s for Christmas!
The Raspberry Pi M&M Color Sorter
Need to sort out green and red M&M’s for the Christmas season? The Raspberry Pi M&M Color Sorter uses a Raspberry Pi with a BrickPi and PivotPi to sort out green and red M&M’s. The EV3 touch sensor acts as an on/off switch to control the EV3 motor that powers the conveyor belts to make the M&M’s pass one-by-one under an NXT color sensor. If an M&M is detected to be green or red, the servo extends an arm to pull the M&M off the side of the conveyor belt.
Tools and Materials to Build The Raspberry Pi M&M Color Sorter
Raspberry Pi – The Pi will run the sorting program, read the sensors, and control the motor and servo.
BrickPi – The BrickPi connects LEGO sensors and motors to the Raspberry Pi
PivotPi – The PivotPi allows the Raspberry Pi to control the servo.
LEGO parts – The M&M’s sorter is built out of an assortment of LEGO parts, including a motor, color sensor, and touch sensor.
Servo – The servo is used to move the arm to pull the green and red M&M’s off the conveyor belt.
Power Supply – The BrickPi needs a 9v power supply to power the motor and Raspberry Pi. The PivotPi needs a 6v power supply to power the servo. The included BrickPi and PivotPi battery packs will work well.
Raspbian for Robots SD Card – The Raspberry Pi runs Raspbian for Robots. You can download the software for free.
Python Program – The program that the Raspberry Pi will run to sort the M&M’s.”