Microcontroller Based Coin Counter

with Segregator and

Packing System

2017

The evaluation conducted on the coin segregator, counter and

packing machine showed that the machine is able to perform the
commands and program embedded in the microcontroller

Abstract
This study is focused on providing automation and elimination of errors occurring in coin
sorting and handling. This study usestheGizduino ATMEGA 328 microcontroller and
Arduino programming language respectively. The machine will only process the Philippine
peso coins: one peso, five peso and ten peso. The final output of the system is the packed
twenty pieces of coins of the three denomination mentioned. The machine passed the over
all evaluation of the committee. Hence the result indicates that the machine is of good
quality evidently to be technically and physically functional, capable of performing its
system process.

Scholarcy Synopsis
A machine to process Philippine peso coins has passed its final
evaluation by a committee of experts at the University of the
Philippines Diliman (UP Diliman).

Researchers came up with the idea of coin sorting, counting and packing system.
The process begins when random collection of coins is poured to the coin hopper.
The spinning disc on the hopper continuously spins taking one coin at a time.
The segregated coins go into its respected coin bin.
After the segregation of coins, it will be packed by twenty piles at the packing station.
A coin segregator is another technological advancement in the banking industry.
Sensitivity of the proximity sensor resulted to multiple counts with regards to the one peso
coins.
The machine is able to perform the commands and program embedded in the
microcontroller.
Scholarcy Highlights
 A coin segregator is another technological advancement in the banking industry
 Sensor gives off a high signal and whenever a one peso coin pass through the proximity
sensor, it gives off a low signal, makes the coin count
 Sensitivity of the proximity sensor resulted to multiple counts with regards to the one
peso coins
 The one peso coin passes through a proximity sensor that acts as the coin counter and is
stacked in the coin bin
 The evaluation conducted on the coin segregator, counter and packing machine showed
that the machine is able to perform the commands and program embedded in the
microcontroller
 The speed of process must be improved by decreasing the pulses by sampling and
setting the pulse per coin from 5 to 1 pulse, 10 to 2 pulse for 5 peso and 10 peso coins
respectively b

Scholarcy Summary

INTRODUCTION
People still use coins in their everyday lives.

A coin segregator is another technological advancement in the banking industry.

The business industry uses coins in wide variety nowadays.

This made the researchers to come up with the idea of coin sorting, counting and packing
system.

The high technology has shown the improvement to the counting and sorting machine as
the modern device becomes more advanced to running the counting and sorting process.

This study intends to develop a system that counts, sort and pack different coins
automatically and aims to manifest the principles of an actualmicrocontroller-based
counting, sorting, and packing system of coins that aims to.

After the segregation of coins, it will be packed by twenty piles at the packing station.The
maximum load on the coin hopper shall be limited of 40- 60 coins and limited to 20 piles of
packed coins

METHOD
If the coin is either five peso or ten peso, the coin goes to the coin feeder and to the coin slot.

The coin slot identifies the coin and at the same time counts the coin.

After the coin is identified, it goes to the coin bin ready for segregation.
The sensor in the coin slot gives off pulse to the microcontroller; the microcontroller
interprets the pulse given by the sensor.

The microcontroller sends signal to the segregator servo.

The segregator servo moves to either left or right depending on the signal given by the
microcontroller.

The segregated coins go into its respected coin bin.

Whenever the coin counts reach the count of 20, the coin goes to the conveyor and through
a heater for packing.

The packed coins goes to a collecting bin as finish output

Design and Development

The process begins when random collection of coins is poured to the coin hopper; the
spinning disc on the hopper continuously spins taking one coin at a time to transport to the
hole on the hopper.

Itreceives the bulk random collection of coins that needs to be segregated, counted and
packed.

The hopper ensures that only one coin at a time is fed to the system for processing.

The hopper is designed to hold up to a maximum of 1/3 of its volume weighing

approximately 0.5 kilograms.The hopper has a spinning disc of 17.5 centimeters and has a
hole that takes one coin at a time.

A servo motor was attached to the disc to make it spin continuously.

Coin to be segregated directly without using any electronic device

Proximity Sensor
Since the one peso coin segregates directly upon passing through the coin path, a proximity
sensor is attached above the one peso coin bin.

Sensor gives off a high signal and whenever a one peso coin pass through the proximity
sensor, it gives off a low signal, makes the coin count

Coin Path
It has an inner width of 1/8 inch.

The coin path has an angle of inclination of 30 degrees.

A hole is made 9.1 centimeters away from the hole on the hopper and 0.5 centimeter from
the bottom of the path.
The dimension of the hole and the coin path’s tilted position are the important feature that
plays a great role for the coin path.

These features make it possible for the one peso

Coin Feeder
The coin feeder does not have an electrical component or device attached to it.

The coin feeder ensures that either the five peso coin or the ten peso coin is properly fed to
the coin slot

Segregator Servo
The segregator servo is the component that segregates the five peso and ten peso controlled
by the microcontroller.

Unlike the servo motor that spins the disc continuously, the segregator servo swings from
left to right dependent on the program or command embedded in the microcontroller

Coin Slot
The coin slot as shown in fig. 6 was the receptacle that receives coin on a vending machine.

The pulses given off by the coin slot is interpreted by the microcontroller, depending on the
microcontroller, it sends a command to the segregating servo.

Since the coin slot gives off pulses to identify what coin passed through it, the
microcontroller receives and analyze the signal given by the coin slot, the microcontroller
on the other hand sends commands to the segregator servo.

The microcontroller sends commands to the segregator servo and swings it either going left
or right.

The segregator servo swings to the left 100o if it receives signal interpreted by the
microcontroller as five peso coin.

The segregator servo moves to the right 30o if it receives signal interpreted by the
microcontroller as ten peso coin.

The segregator servo has a time delay of 100 nanoseconds for it to go back to the original
position 60o for it to identify the coin stacked on the coin bin

Coin Bin
The coins that go into the one peso coin bin were already counted; on the other hand a coin
bin receives the five and ten peso coin.

The three different coin bins have different dimension since the coins differs in size.

The coins are stored in stack inside the coin bin.

The system process is dependent upon the control of the microcontroller.

All the actions of the microcontroller are based on the program stored in it.

Challenges regarding programming the microcontroller include program calculation since

the process needs accuracy for the best implementation of the project.

Correct calculation and several simulations were done to achieve the best output of the
program.

Debugging and tracing the algorithm are essential in programming since adequate
knowledge about this helps consume time less regarding trouble shooting the program

Counter Display
Three denominations of coins have separate counter display.

The counter display is connected to the Gizduino Mini microcontroller ; its action was
dependent upon the command or signal it received from the microcontroller.

The counter display sends feedback to the microcontroller to complete the system process
that needs values from the counter display

Program Flow
If the segregator-microcontroller receives signal from the proximity sensor, the program
can tell that the coin passed through at the sensor was 1 peso and sends signal at the
countermicrocontroller to count the 1peso coin per piece.

If else the pulse signal received was from 5peso coin the segregatormicrocontroller sends
signal at the countermicrocontroller to count the 5peso coin per piece and the same time
commands the segregator-servo to rotate at 105° within 500 milliseconds and return to its
original position at 60° in another 500 milliseconds thereafter.

Packaging
The coin packing system is not attached to the microcontroller but is controlled using a
relay.

The coin packing system is dependent upon the limit switch that is attached to the relay.

11 is the main component in the packing system since this is the component responsible for
the sealing of the coins wrapped in shrink label.

The heat gun is controlled by the relay that is connected to the limit switch which triggers
the relay to turn on the heat gun whenever a coin pile is on the conveyor.

The conveyor transports the coin pile from the coin bin to the heat gun
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
It sends signal to the segregator servo to sort the five and ten peso coin.

The coins should be dropped horizontally on the coin bin so that the segregator servo can
properly take one coin and place it on the designated coin bin.

To solve this problem, the researchers programmed the microcontroller for it to send signal
to the segregator servo to make little movement in order to produce vibrations making the
coins placed in a horizontal manner.

The thickness of the material used as segregator wiper makes it takes two coins instead of
just one coin.

A conveyor was utilized as well to transport the coin

Process Flow
The proximity sensor shown in fig. 14 is very sensitive to the objects that pass through it.

Coins pass through the coin path for segregation.

The one peso coin falls off to the side hole of the coin path, the five and ten peso goes to the
coin feeder.

The one peso coin passes through a proximity sensor that acts as the coin counter and is
stacked in the coin bin.

The five and ten peso goes into the coin slot to be identified and counted.

The identified coin goes into a coin stack; the segregator servo segregates the coin placing it
in its respective coin bin.

When the count reaches 20, the coin pile is fed to a prefabricated coin wrapper ready for
packing.

The conveyor transports the coin pile to pass through a heat gun.

After heat is applied to the coin pile inside the prefabricated coin wrapper, the coin comes
out as packed of 20pcs coins

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The evaluation conducted on the coin segregator, counter and packing machine showed that
the machine is able to perform the commands and program embedded in the
microcontroller.

The machine used Gizduino microcontroller and utilized C Language for the embedded
program.
Based on the result of the evaluation conducted, the researchers concluded that the
microcontrollerbased coin counter with segregator and packing system is a helpful machine
in the industry.

The researchers recommend that the following must be improved to further make the
machine effective and useful: a.

The speed of process must be improved by decreasing the pulses by sampling and setting
the pulse per coin from 5 to 1 pulse, 10 to 2 pulse for 5 peso and 10 peso coins respectively
b.

The design of the hopper must be enhanced to increase the machine’s capacity and speed.

The proximity sensor must be positioned higher to have more accurate reading to avoid
occurrence of multiple counts from bouncing

Contributions
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONSThe evaluation conducted on the coin segregator,
counter and packing machine showed that the machine is able to perform the commands
and program embedded in the microcontroller. The machine used Gizduino microcontroller
and utilized C Language for the embedded program.Based on the result of the evaluation
conducted, the researchers concluded that the microcontrollerbased coin counter with
segregator and packing system is a helpful machine in the industry.The researchers
recommend that the following must be improved to further make the machine effective and
useful: a. The speed of process must be improved by decreasing the pulses by sampling and
setting the pulse per coin from 5 to 1 pulse, 10 to 2 pulse for 5 peso and 10 peso coins
respectively b. The design of the hopper must be enhanced to increase the machine’s
capacity and speed.