Counting one’s coins by hand can take a very long time, and for those wanting to avoid physically going to the bank or paying a fee at a commercial machine, what options remain? Fraens has created a full 3D-printed coin sorter and counter that combines technology with a clever design to accomplish this task automatically.

The bulk of the device is comprised of the drum which has many round slots placed around its inner circumference that coins can travel within. It is set at an angle that matches the stationary underside, and this is necessary because the coins should only fall through when the drum reaches the top half of its cycle. Since each coin denomination is slightly bigger or smaller, the series of rectangular slots have varying sizes to separate the denominations, and every drop is picked up by an infrared distance sensor when it detects a change in light levels caused by the passing coin.

A geared motor is responsible for rotating the drum, and it in turn is powered by an L298N H-bridge driver which is controlled by an Arduino Uno Rev3. The Uno also reads the states of the infrared sensors to count the quantities of each coin and displays the result using an LCD positioned at the front of the device.

To see more about how Fraens’ coin sorter works, you can watch his video below!