Bottle counter sensor missing detections and double-counting in tube

TECHNICAL SUPPORT Sensors & Modules
1

Customer:

We built a bottle counter with display for our school cooperative, showing how many bottles still need to be collected to reach a goal. A passage sensor is placed inside a tube to detect bottles passing through. The device was built with help from a former student. We are not satisfied with the sensor’s sensitivity inside the tube for detecting plastic bottle passage. Sometimes it detects nothing, and sometimes it counts multiple bottles instead of one.

Can we find a quality sensor for this function among your products?

Original message (Croatian)

u školi smo za potrebe naše školske zadruge kreirali tzv. brojač boca s displejem koji pokazuje koliko je još boca potrebno prikupiti za ostvarenje nekog cilja. Senzor prolaska boca smješen je unutar cijevi. Uređaj je tehnčki izveden uz pomoć našeg bivšeg učenika. Nismo zadovoljni s osjetljivošću senzora u cijevi koji treba detektirati prolaz plastične boce. Ponekad ništa ne uoči a ponekad izbroji više boca umjesto jedne.

Je li među vašim proizvodima moguće pronaći kvalitetan senzor za tu funkciju?

Zahvaljujem, srdačan pozdrav,

[name removed]

Originally submitted via email support on 22 June 2020. Migrated to the forum for community visibility.

2

Soldered Support:

I recommend using two distance sensors or two photoelectric sensors and counting a bottle entry only when detection occurs on the first sensor and then on the second sensor. After detection, add a short pause (for example 500ms, test in practice). With these two approaches I am confident you will eliminate false readings.

You can find both types of sensors in our web shop.

Original message (Croatian)

hvala Vam na upitu.

Preporučam staviti dva senzora udaljenosti ili dva fotoprekidnika te brojati ulazak boce isključivo kada se obavi detekcija na prvom senzoru pa na drugom senzoru, a nakon detekcije staviti kraću pauzu (npr 500ms, testirati u praksi). S te dvije stvari sam siguran da ćete eliminirati lažna očitanja.

Oba senzora možete pronaći na našem web shopu.