SIPhTR: Small Item Photographing Triage Robot

SIPhTR shall be capable of three sorting challenges: sort by color, by size/shape, and by character using optical character recognition (OCR).

Challenge 1 – SIPhT by COLOR!
Given an assortment of small items of uniform shape and size, SIPhTR shall sort by color
SIPhTR shall be able to physically sort at least 12 different colors, but the electronics shall be programmable to algorithmically sort more
Assumed size of bead to be used shall be a standard “perler” or fuse bead with dimensions as shown in attached documention

Challenge 2 – SIPhT by SHAPE!
Given an assortment of small items, SIPhTR shall sort by size and shape
SIPhTR shall be able to physically sort at least 12 unique sizes and shapes, but the electronics shall be programmable to algorithmically sort more
The resolution of objects to be sorted shall be 500 microns. SIPhTR shall support items as small as 3x3x3 mm3 and as large as 15x15x15 mm3.

Challenge 3 – SIPhT with OCR
Given an assortment of lettered beads, SIPhTR shall sort with optical character recognition (OCR)
Letters can be assumed to be from the Roman alphabet
Lettered beads can be assumed to be uniform shape and size

Speed
In order to be as efficient as possible, SIPhTR should sort quickly! At a rate of at least 0.2 Hz (or 1 bead every 5 seconds) but the team should stretch for a rate of 1 Hz.

End Product
SIPhTR is not meant to be stand alone product but can be a “bread board” or “open frame design”
However all components should fit on a single table top roughly in a 3x3 ft square area or smaller
Electronics hardware should be a part of the end product, I.E. SIPhTR should not run from a personal computer
Power supplies should also be part of the end product, I.E. SIPhTR should not run off of lab power supplies