International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET)

Volume 9, Issue 11, November 2018, pp. 2157–2163, Article ID: IJCIET_09_11_211
Available online at [Link]
ISSN Print: 0976-6308 and ISSN Online: 0976-6316

©IAEME Publication Scopus Indexed

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF

AUTOMATED PARCEL SORTING MECHANISM
USING ARDUINO
Saravanan R
Assistant Professor
PSNA College of Engineering and Technology
Dindigul, Tamilnadu, India

Sathesh Raaj R
Assistant Professor,
PSNA College of Engineering and Technology
Dindigul, Tamilnadu, India

Suganya Thevi T
Assistant Professor,
PSNA College of Engineering and Technology,
Dindigul, Tamilnadu, India

Kasthuri M
Assistant Professor,
PSNA College of Engineering and Technology
Dindigul, Tamilnadu, India

Karthika K
Assistant Professor, PSNA College of Engineering and Technology
Dindigul, Tamilnadu, India

Ashok Kumar S
UG Scholar, PSNA College of Engineering and Technology
Dindigul, Tamilnadu, India

ABSTRACT
Automating every sector of industry is an important step toward increasing
efficiency and reducing human related errors, here we try to automate the sorting
process by using Arduino. In many industries job pieces of various sizes are moved on
same conveyor belt these need to separate at various locations in the manufacturing
line. After completion of manufacturing the products automatically move on the

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 Saravanan R, Sathesh Raaj R, Suganya Thevi T, Kasthuri M, Karthika K and Ashok Kumar S

conveyor belts. Sensors at different places sense and detect the job pieces of different
sizes. For sensing the material infrared sensors are used. The entire process is
controlled by the program dumped in Arduino. The Automatic Sorting Machine is
used to sort different types of products or commodities based on the barcode provided
on them [3]. This gives a provision to reduce the manual effort and hence human
error by replacing the conventional methods of sorting in areas involving hectic
sorting. To maintain a better accuracy, Automated Parcel Sorting Mechanism should
be implemented [4]. Due to the restricted reach of automation in sorting in these
sectors, the thought about automated sorting in such fields ought to be considered
with much importance. Thus, to extend the advantages of automated sorting in large-
scale sectors to the above mentioned sector, a notion of automation has been thought
to implement in small-scale sectors [5]. The main objective of this system is to save
the time and labor cost.
Keywords: Automation, Parcel, Sensors, Sorting Mechanism, Barcode Scanner,
Arduino, Conveyor.
Cite this Article: Saravanan R, Sathesh Raaj R, Suganya Thevi T, Kasthuri M,
Karthika K and Ashok Kumar S, Design and Implementation of Automated Parcel
Sorting Mechanism Using Arduino, International Journal of Civil Engineering and
Technology (IJCIET) 9(11), 2018, pp. 2157–2163.
[Link]

1. INTRODUCTION
Automation can be defined as the technology by which a process or procedure is performed
without human assistance. In other words, Automation or automatic control is the use of
various control systems for operating equipment such as machinery, processes in factories,
boilers and heat treating ovens, switching on telephone networks, steering and stabilization of
ships, aircraft and other applications and vehicles with minimal or reduced human
intervention. Some processes have been completely automated [4]. Automation has been
achieved by various means including mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, electrical, electronic
devices and computers, usually in combination. Complicated systems, such as modern
factories, airplanes and ships typically use all these combined techniques. The benefit of
automation includes labor savings, savings in electricity costs, savings in material costs, and
improvements to quality, accuracy and precision.
Engineers can now have numerical control over automated devices. The result has been a
rapidly expanding range of applications and human activities. Computer-aided technologies
(or CAx) now serve as the basis for mathematical and organizational tools used to create
complex systems. Notable examples of CAx include Computer-aided design (CAD software)
and Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM software). The improved design, analysis, and
manufacture of products enabled by CAx has been beneficial for industry. One example of an
industrial control system is a programmable logic controller (PLC) [1]. PLCs are specialized
hardened computers which are frequently used to synchronize the flow of inputs from
(physical) sensors and events with the flow of outputs to actuators and events. Human-
machine interfaces (HMI) or computer human interfaces (CHI), formerly known as man-
machine interfaces, are usually employed to communicate with PLCs and other computers
[10].

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 Design and Implementation of Automated Parcel Sorting Mechanism Using Arduino

2. EXISTING METHOD
The sorting facilities have traditionally been aligned to handling documents and small
packets. The existing parcel sorting happens manually either on floor area or on conveyer
belts at select locations [2]. The entire parcel processing does not have any Standard
Operating Procedure (SOP) which brings down the sorting efficiency. [3]

3. PROPOSED METHOD
In many industries sorting the materials of different sizes is difficult. For this purpose we need
more human efficiency to sort the materials, so we are using the automated process which is
used to sort the materials which are of different sizes. After completion of manufacturing the
product they automatically move on the conveyor belts. Here we are using sensors at different
places which detect and sense the materials of different sizes. They get sorted at different
places based upon their sizes and they are placed in their respected containers or boxes. For
sensing the material we are using infrared sensors which are so sensitive. The Proposed
System block diagram is shown in Figure.1.

Figure 1 Proposed System Block Diagram

All these process is controlled and handled by Arduino Microcontroller. Automating
every sector of industry is an important step towards increasing efficiency and reducing
human related errors, here we try to automate the sorting process by using Controller [7]. The
entire process is controlled by the program dumped in Arduino.

4. HARDWARE DESCRIPTION
4.1. Conveyor System
Conveyor is used in many industries to transport goods and materials between stages of a
process. Using conveyor systems is a good way to reduce the risks of musculoskeletal injury
in tasks or processes that involve manual handling, as they reduce the need for repetitive
lifting and carrying. Conveyors are a powerful material handling tool. They offer the
opportunity to boost productivity, reduce product handling and damage, and minimize labor
required in a manufacturing or distribution facility [6]. All lifting and conveying machines
can be divided by their operating principles into two large groups:
(i) Intermittent motion (ii) Continuous motion

Intermittent motion
Intermittent motion includes all types of cranes, lifts; surface transport means (trucks, loaders,
prime movers), aerial tramways and cable ways, scrappers and the like.

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 Saravanan R, Sathesh Raaj R, Suganya Thevi T, Kasthuri M, Karthika K and Ashok Kumar S

Continuous motion
Continuous motion includes conveyors, pneumatic and hydraulic transport means etc, which
may generally called continuous transport machines or conveying machines.
There are various types of conveyors available. In our proposed system, belt conveyor is
used to transport the parcels to its appropriate destination. A gear motor is a specific type of
electrical motor that is designed to produce high torque while maintaining a low horsepower,
or low speed, motor output [6]. Gear motors can be found in many different applications and
are commonly used in devices such as can openers, garage door openers, washing machine
time control knobs and even electric alarm clocks. A belt conveyor with gear motor setup is
shown in Figure.2

Figure 2 Conveyor System

4.2. Barcode Scanner

A barcode reader (or barcode scanner) is an electronic device that can read and output printed
barcodes to a computer. Like a flatbed scanner, it consists of a light source, a lens and a light
sensor translating optical impulses into electrical ones. Additionally, nearly all barcode
readers contain decoder circuitry analyzing the barcode's image data provided by the sensor
and sending the barcode's content to the scanner's output port.

Figure 3 Barcode Scanner

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 Design and Implementation of Automated Parcel Sorting Mechanism Using Arduino

It is an electronic device that can read the printed barcodes. It consists of a light source, a
lens and a light sensor translating optical impulses into electrical pulses. In this paper, we are
using Barcode scanner to read the printed PIN codes as barcodes which is shown in Figure.3

4.3. IR Sensor
An infrared sensor is an electronic device that emits in order to sense some aspects of the
surroundings. An IR sensor can measure the heat of an object as well as detects the motion.
These types of sensors measures only infrared radiation, rather than emitting it that is called
as a passive IR sensor. Usually in the infrared spectrum, all the objects radiate some form of
thermal radiations. These types of radiations are invisible to our eyes, which can be detected
by an infrared sensor.

Figure 4 IR Sensor
The emitter is simply an IR LED (Light Emitting Diode) and the detector is simply an IR
photodiode which is sensitive to IR light of the same wavelength as that emitted by the IR
LED. When IR light falls on the photodiode, the resistances and these output voltages, change
in proportion to the magnitude of the IR light received which is shown in Figure.4

4.4. Arduino UNO

Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use
hardware and software. Here we are using Arduino for processing and controlling inputs and
outputs. Arduino is an open-source electronics platform based on easy-to-use hardware and
software. Arduino boards are able to read inputs - light on a sensor, a finger on a button, or a
Twitter message - and turn it into an output - activating a motor, turning on an LED, which is
shown in Figure.5

Figure 5 Arduino UNO Board

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 Saravanan R, Sathesh Raaj R, Suganya Thevi T, Kasthuri M, Karthika K and Ashok Kumar S

4.5. LCD
LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screen is an electronic display module and find a wide range of
applications. A 16x2 LCD display is very basic module and is very commonly used in various
devices and circuits. These modules are preferred over seven segments and other multi
segment LEDs. The reasons being: LCDs are economical easily programmable have no
limitation of displaying special & even custom characters (unlike in seven segments),
animations and so on.

Figure 6 LCD Display

A 16x2 LCD means it can display 16 characters per line and there are 2 such lines. In this
LCD each character is displayed in 5x7 pixel matrix. This LCD has two registers, namely,
Command and Data. The command register stores the command instructions given to the
LCD which is shown in Figure.6.

5. HARDWARE SETUP
The overall hardware setup of proposed System is shown in Figure.7. In the sorting
mechanism, the disk drive is connected to PTL when the job pieces are sensed by the IR
sensor which is indicated by LED. The disk drive opens to push the parcels to the appropriate
destination.

Figure 7 Hardware Setup of Proposed Model

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 Design and Implementation of Automated Parcel Sorting Mechanism Using Arduino

The disk drive can be operated by the IR Sensor connected to it to locate the appropriate
parcel. The Conveyor with DC Gear motor is used for the transportation.

6. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK

The Automatic Sorting machine makes sorting process easy, more precise and reliable. In
various other places where sorting comes into play predominantly are airports, seaports,
small-scale industries, super markets, etc [8]. All these used conventional method of sorting
which is manual, tiring, time consuming and often with mistakes. But due to the restricted
reach of automation in sorting [10] in these sectors, the thought about automated sorting in
such fields ought to be considered with much importance. Thus, to extend the advantages of
automated sorting in large-scale sectors to the above mentioned sector, a notion of automation
has been thought to implement in small-scale sectors.

REFERENCES
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[8] Adeoye, A. O. M., A. A. Aderoba, and B. I. Oladapo. "Simulated design of a flow control
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