Shell Sorter Phase II

Members: Cole CameronNolan Michaelson

Steven DuvalThomas Crandall

Mentors: Dr. Majura Selekwa & Rob Sailer

Sponsored By:

Red River Regional Marksmanship Center (RRRMC)

• Located in West Fargo• NDSU affiliation• Offers a pistol range as well as an underground rifle range• 15 lane main range• 6 lane 100 meter rifle range • Roughly 1.5 million rounds fired per year in the facility.

Why Sort Casings?• Why did the RRRMC seek NDSU?• Spent casings are sorted to be sold for reloaded.

– Advantages of reloading?• Financial Savings• Supply Shortages• Control Load Specifics

• Need for Sorting– Value of sorted casings

• ( $15 per 1000 rounds scrap vs. $25-$150 per 1000 rounds sorted).• Current process of sorting casings.• This is the second year the project has been attempted

Phase IIProblem Analyzed: Currently, no feasible way of sorting shell casings with speed and

accuracy, without manual labor.Objective: Design and build a machine that will separate and sort a variety of both rifle and

handgun spent casings into separate bins.

Improvements to Phase I:

Increased Variety of Handgun Calibers with Addition of Rifle Calibers

Accuracy of delivery

Constraints: 98% Accuracy; < 10 sec/shellLess than 85 dbSafe, minimal training & maintenance

Classification ParametersThe sorting process is technically a pattern recognition process.

1. Casing Stampa. Use Optical Character Recognition

to read stamp2. Weight

a. Measuring Casing weight of each caliber i. Very Inconsistent

3. Physical Dimensionsa. Base Diameter, Height, and

Neck Diameter

Similarity in Shell Dimensions• 30-06 & .25-06 Rem as well as .338 FED

& .308 Win same diameters and height w/ tolerances

• .308 Win & .338 FED similar w/ tolerances differ in the necks

.375 Sig & 40 S&WDifferent Necks

Basic OperationOrientation

Measure Base Diameter

TransportMeasure HeightDeliver Shell Casing

On Reset

Casing OrientationDillon Precision Casefeeder

• Orients Casing, Primer End Down

• Two Quart Spent Shells• Multiple Plates for Various

Casing Types

Drop Tube• Transports casing to next step

• IR Sensor– Triggers Arduino to stop feeder

stepper w/ relay shield

Servo ArmServo Arm Design

• Transports Casing to Claw

• Rotates from feeder tube to claw

Pneumatics• Plunger raises casing

• 3” Stroke Length

• Controlled by Arduino with 4-way Solenoid

Servo• Capable of 180° range

• Uses Rotary Potentiometer to establish position

Plunger

Servo

Pneumatic Cylinder

Servo Arm

Casing

Linear Measurement SensorsInfrared Sensors, Image Dimensioning, and Potentiometers were all consideredVariable Resistors:• Application: Measuring linear

displacement in terms of Voltage.Capabilities with 5V across resistor:

• Base Diameter– Sensitivity: .003”/10mV– Repeatability: ±.005”

• Height Measurement– Sensitivity: 10mV= .007”– Repeatability: ±.007”

Base Diameter Measurement

Potentiometer

Pneumatic Cylinder

“Claw” Design: • V-Design• Pneumatic tongue• Linear Potentiometer

Pneumatic Cylinder • Controlled with 4-way Solenoid Valve• Precise Control

– Velocity of Tongue– Force of Tongue

• Repeatable Actuation• Stroke Length = 1.5”

Potentiometer• Contacts back of tongue• Measures linear displacement of tongue

• Total Displacement = .767”V- Design

Tongue

X-Y TableX-Y Table Design• PVC Pipe Grid• Linear Travel

Linear Guides• X-Direction: “Drylin-T” Carriage & Rail • Y-Direction: Ball Bearing Carriage & Rail

Stepper Motors• NEMA-23 stepper motors Torque: 255 oz.-in.

– Torque: 255 oz.-in.– 1.8° Step Angle = .007”

Drivers• Controlled by Arduino • Microstepping Capabilities

Limit Switches• X & Y Directions• Homing

Height MeasurementDrop Plate Design

• Linear Motion of Aluminum Plate• Pinches Casing Vertically

Pneumatic Cylinder • Controlled by Arduino with 4-way Solenoid• Precise Control

– Velocity of Aluminum Plate– Force of Aluminum Plate

• Stroke Length = 2.500”Potentiometer

• Linear slide potentiometer• Gathers displacement of Aluminum plate• Total Displacement = 2.170”

Controller

www.Arduino.com

Various controllers were considered

Arduino Unoo 6 analog pins & 14 digital pins

▪ Analog to read potentiometers & ir sensor▪ Digital controlling steppers, pneumatics &

switches o 10-bit ADC capable of reading to

approximately 5mVo Various Shield

▪ Relay Shield

▪ Screw Shield

Wiring Schematic

Screw Shield

Servo

Pistol Rifle switch

+com Resistor 1㏀

Power Box Design

• Power Supplies

• Arduino

• Pneumatic Solenoid Valves

• Regulators

Final Design

• Integration of several parts

• High Precision & Accuracy

• Fabrication Time

Start X-Y Table Zeros

Feeder turned on

Shell triggers IR Sensor as it drops. Turns off feeder.

Servo rotates. Plunger pushes shell into claw.

Claw pneumatic triggered grabs shell. (extended)Takes base measurement

X-Y moves to second stage

Height pneumatic triggered pinching shell. Takes height measurement (lowered)

Height pneumatic triggered releasing shell from pinch (raised)

Arduino runs base and height through algorithm selecting correct bin assignment

X-Y moves to selected bin

Once bin is reached the claw pneumatic is triggered (retracted) X-Y returns to

home position

Testing

Testing Results• Issues with the IR triggering to stop feeder

– Doesn't stop machine but can cause reading errors sending the casing to be resort

• Casing Identification (without orientation) – 99% accurate for pistol rounds

• Ran roughly 300 pistol casings– 95% accurate for rifle rounds

• Ran Approx. 150 casings– Currently the machine can distinguish between

• 11 pistol casings (38 super auto, 9mm, 380, 45 Auto, 45 colt(long), 40 S&W, 38 spl, 357 SIG, 357 Mag, 44 Rem mag, 454 Casull)

• 10 rifle (223, 25-06/30-06, 308 WIN, 243, 30-30, 270, 300 Win MAG, 7mm, 22-250, 7.62 x 38)

Project Plan

Budget BreakdownTotal Cost ($)

PNEUMATIC COMPONENTS AND ACCESSORIES 372.41

ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS 328.65

LINEAR MOTION COMPONENTS AND ACCESSORIES 874.48

RAW MATERIALS 190.70

MISCELLANEOUS 109.79

FUTURE EXPENSES 156.43

ADJUSTED SHIPPING 155.00

TOTAL 2187.46

ALLOCATED BUDGET 2200.00

UNDER BUDGET 12.54

Future Recommendations• Presort Machine

– Remove .22 casings– Remove Aluminum and Steel Casings– Remove garbage

• Others– Third Dimension if needed– Improved feeder to take in wider variety of

shells and larger volume– Increase library of casings

Thank You• We would like to thank our sponsor, the Red River Regional Marksmanship

Center.

• Magnum Research Inc. for providing us use of their 3-D printer

• Our mentors, Dr. Majura Selekwa and Rob Sailer

• Mechanical Engineering Department

• Shannon Viestenz

Question?