Case Study for Mechatronic Design

of a Coin Counter
Define the Problem
This problem has two significant parts: the design of an electromechanical coin
Presentation system to align coins sequentially in some fashion so they may be presented
To an array of sensors, and the design of an electronic calculator to use the
Sensor data to display the count and value of the coins.

Draw a Functional Diagram

All groups elected to design a diameter sensor using a set of phototransistor-photodiode pairs.
These photo-optic pairs were carefully positioned so that the combination of signals would
Be unique for each different denomination of coin (see Figure 11.24). For this project,
The coin denominations were limited to the U.S. penny, nickel, and quarter to provide significant
size differences. This meant that the largest coin, the quarter, activated all sensors, and the
smallest, the penny, only one. Furthermore, the signals from the sensors would be pulses of
different widths affected by the size and speed of the coins. The sensor outputs were converted to
TTL signals using 7404 Schmitt triggers, making the outputs compatible with the computational
part of the circuit design. The sensors produce pulses at different starting times and for different
durations depending on the size and speed of the coin. This subtlety requires careful sequential
Logic design to ensure that the coin is identified correctly.

Identify Necessary interface circuits

When this project was assigned, we had not yet started teaching microcontroller
Programming and interfacing in our course. In lieu of this, we had students develop
Solutions using basic TTL ICs.
Combinational and sequential logic is required to determine the denomination of the coin and
increment the displayed output by a value corresponding to the denomination.
The outputs were transmitted to a digital display driver to multiplex the current number of coins
and the accumulated value.

Draw Schematic
There were as many solutions for this problem as there were design groups. The following are
two circuit diagrams proposed by the students.