VEX Screw Sorter
Grade Level at Time of Presentation
Secondary School
Major
-
Minor
-
Institution
Project Lead The Way - Kentucky
KY House District #
58
KY Senate District #
20
Faculty Advisor/ Mentor
Shane Ware
Abstract
The idea we are developing is the Vex screw sorter. Our screw sorter is intended to sort Vex screws based on their size/length. The problem is that people cannot sort their screws efficiently and machines cannot sort screws accurately. We have tried many ideas and designs but none of them seem to work as good as we hoped.
Our concept is to put pegs along a plexiglass surface. The head of the screw will move along the top edge of a piece of plexi‐glass on a downhill angle. The pegs will have a tripping effect on the screws and eliminate their route starting from longest to shortest. After the screw is knocked off the plexiglass it will fall into a bin underneath the peg corresponding to its length. To get the screws to this point, we will dump them into a V‐shaped funnel system in which the screw is hanging from the bottom point of the V. This system will work efficiently, accurately, and hopefully solve the burden of sorting screw by hand.
This system will save the time and energy of engineering students and teachers having to divide and locate screws. The time it currently takes to sort screws takes away from teachers educating their students and students working on their projects. We hope to incorporate this machine in VEX classrooms across the state to make the lives of PLTW students and teachers easier.
VEX Screw Sorter
The idea we are developing is the Vex screw sorter. Our screw sorter is intended to sort Vex screws based on their size/length. The problem is that people cannot sort their screws efficiently and machines cannot sort screws accurately. We have tried many ideas and designs but none of them seem to work as good as we hoped.
Our concept is to put pegs along a plexiglass surface. The head of the screw will move along the top edge of a piece of plexi‐glass on a downhill angle. The pegs will have a tripping effect on the screws and eliminate their route starting from longest to shortest. After the screw is knocked off the plexiglass it will fall into a bin underneath the peg corresponding to its length. To get the screws to this point, we will dump them into a V‐shaped funnel system in which the screw is hanging from the bottom point of the V. This system will work efficiently, accurately, and hopefully solve the burden of sorting screw by hand.
This system will save the time and energy of engineering students and teachers having to divide and locate screws. The time it currently takes to sort screws takes away from teachers educating their students and students working on their projects. We hope to incorporate this machine in VEX classrooms across the state to make the lives of PLTW students and teachers easier.