Cedar Lake Instruments

Tag: counter

  • Counting items in manufacturing

    In industrial processes, the items counted can vary widely depending on the industry and the specific operation, but here are some common categories:

    1. Finished Products

    These are the final goods ready for shipment or sale—like cars, electronics, packaged food, or pharmaceuticals.

    2. Work-in-Progress (WIP)

    Items that are partially completed and still moving through the production line. For example, an engine block before assembly or a circuit board before soldering.

    3. Raw Materials

    Basic inputs like steel, plastic pellets, chemicals, or fabric that are used to manufacture goods.

    4. Components and Subassemblies

    These include bolts, gears, circuit chips, or any smaller parts that go into a larger product.

    5. Packaging Materials

    Boxes, labels, shrink wrap, and pallets are often tracked to ensure smooth logistics.

    6. Defective or Rejected Items

    Counting these helps with quality control and identifying process inefficiencies.

    7. Tool Usage and Machine Cycles

    In some cases, even the number of times a machine operates or a tool is used is tracked to monitor wear and schedule maintenance.

    8. Energy and Resource Consumption

    Some advanced systems count units of electricity, water, or gas used per product to optimize efficiency.

    How is the counting done?

    Counting and tracking are done with a mix of smart technologies that help keep everything humming like a well-oiled machine. Here’s how it’s typically done:

    🔍 1. Sensors and Counters

    Proximity sensors, photoelectric sensors, and laser counters detect items as they pass on a conveyor belt. Each item triggers the sensor, incrementing a count in real time.

    🖨️ 2. Barcode & QR Code Scanning

    These are ubiquitous for tracking materials and products through each stage of production. Fixed or handheld scanners read codes and update digital systems accordingly.

    📡 3. RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification)

    RFID tags embedded in products or components can be read remotely—no line of sight needed. It’s perfect for fast-moving operations or for tracking hidden items inside containers.

    🎥 4. Machine Vision Systems

    Cameras paired with AI or pattern recognition software can identify, count, and inspect items. These systems are especially useful for quality control and complex assembly lines.

    📊 5. PLCs and SCADA Systems

    Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) handle on-the-fly counting and logic in machinery. SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) software collects and displays data in dashboards for operators.

    🧠 6. IoT & Smart Manufacturing

    Internet of Things (IoT) devices allow machines to “talk” to each other and send data to cloud platforms for analysis. These systems track not only counts but also machine health, resource use, and workflow efficiency.

    🔄 7. Manual Tallying (Yes, Still Happens)

    For small-scale or irregular items, workers might log counts manually using tablets or sheets—sometimes combined with digital tools for later upload.



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  • High speed counter and Encoder reader

    We are getting ready to release a new high speed counter that greatly simplifies machine to PC connections. 

    Feature set:

    • Read quadrature encoder pulses at up to a 20MHz rate.
    • Single-ended or differential pulse inputs.
    • USB data output provides count to USB or encoder to USB output.
    • USB connection for configuration.

    The device implements USB counter that is significantly faster than our existing ones and it is still compatible with the existing software interface.
    This counter has a maximum input pulse rate of 20MHz and will accept either a “standard” or Gray-code mode used for interfacing with quadrature encoders. You can now get a high speed quadrature encoder input read from your PC’s USB port. This new high speed interface is available in a choice of DIN-rail mount or standard wall/desktop mounting enclosure.

    Click the link below to be notified when the interface is available for the introductory $125 pricing. This price is only available for pre-orders.



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  • Sensor for detecting thin lines

    A few months ago I was asked to build a custom counter. I get that request fairly often, but this one was different. The thing that needed to be counted was the transition of a thin line past the sensor. The feature to be counted was about 0.5mm thick. It was a black line on a yellow background so at least the contrast was pretty good. Since the counter needed to be portable and could not be attached to the equipment containing the feature to be counted, we figured that a way to visually align the sensor to the line was best. This meant that the sensor would emit visible light, so it would be possible to see when the light was in the right spot.

    Since a 0.5 thin line is in the realm of barcode line decoding, I looked for sensors used in barcode readers. Problem is, that they are rarely specified that way. All I could find were 2D barcode sensors/cameras and those were overkill for my purpose. Oh, well!

    So I figured that what made the most sense was a sensor with a small field of view. That way it could provide the highest signal to noise ratio (SNR).

    I tried a number of sensors but the one that offered the best performance was the Optek OPB70DWZ. Having a red LED meant it was easy to tell when it was correctly positioned to “see” the feature. We found that the optimal distance from sensor to object was about 4mm. At that distance it worked quite reliably. The sensor was biased with a 4.7k ohm resistor to +5V. I found that by varying the bias, I could affect the sensitivity and adjust it for best SNR.

    The counter itself had some logic to control the machine whose behavior was being counted, and it also required a display to show the count and to indicate what the current machine state was, so I did not use one of our existing RS232 counters. Instead I created a custom application based on an Arduino Nano and it’s worked quite well. The customer appears quite pleased with its performance.

    The usual disclaimer: we’re not affiliated with Optek, but very happy with the performance. I’m posting this here because when looking for an optical sensor that could detect very small features or lines, nothing useful was returned from my searches. Hopefully this helps someone in the future.



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  • Connect bill acceptor or coin acceptor to PC

    One interesting application for our PRT232 pulse counter is reading bill acceptors and coin acceptors from a desktop computer.

    A coin acceptor is used to pay for a product or service. You’re probably quite familiar with them from using commercial laundry machines or video game arcades. In these situations, they are built into the equipment. However we are seeing an increase in cases where someone is adding a payment facility via a bill acceptor or a coin acceptor to equipment that was not designed for it. An example would be a kiosk that dispenses water. There are many of these in grocery stores where you can fill up your bottle with pure water and then pay for it at the counter. But many entrepreneurs are taking water dispensers and making it possible for the customer to pay directly at the point of sale.

    These acceptors work by sending a number of pulses corresponding to the coin or bill that is entered. e.g., a quarter may provide a single pulse while a dollar bill gives four pulses. Our pulse counting devices are obviously a natural fit for the application. They will accept the pulse output from the coin acceptor, count the pulses and provide a  serial RS232  interface to the PC making it simple to tally the dollar amount entered.

    By using a counter to RS232 device like our PRT232 or PRT232F (6 count inputs), now the PC computer can be used to track usage, make automated daily reports, provide the customer enhanced user interface and so improve your sales performance.

    We provide a sample of software that uses the PRT232 as a dispense controller. It can be easily modified for your own use. We also offer custom software and hardware development in this area.

    One example of what we have done is the situation when the bill acceptor must be connected to a machine that doesn’t correspond exactly with its operation. For example, perhaps you are building a vacuum cleaner that the operator pays to use (as often found at a car wash). The vacuum may have been designed to start with a contact closure, but in order to use your coin acceptor, you must translate the four pulses from four quarters being deposited into a single output. We have designed electronics to solve exactly this situation. If you need something similar, contact us.

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