Abstract

Object Counter

A system for counting the number of objects of known thickness in a stack and identifying the objects by their color in which an ultrasonic sensor is mounted at a known distance from a reference point that defines the beginning of the stack. The ultrasonic sensor is operated to measure the round trip transit time of ultrasonic energy reflected back from the closest object in the stack and the number of objects in the stack is calculated on the basis of the known distance and the round trip transit time. A color sensor senses the color of at least one object in the stack to identify the object. In a casino application where the objects are chips of known monetary value, the value of the chips in the stack can be calculated