Challenge details:

We manufacture various grades of electrolytic Tin plated and Tin-free Steel sheets.These sheets are stacked in a pile, packaged and then dispatched to customers.

In the last step of manufacturing, an online system counts the number of sheets that fall into the stacker. This counting is done with the help of laser sensors and photo sensors. These sensors are used to make the initial stack of the desired number of sheets. However, when the sheets are removed from these piles/stacks due to defect or damage, we lose track of the number of sheets in the stack.

We would like to count the exact number of sheets in the pile just before or after packaging of the stack. The sheets are very thin (0.14 to 0.40 mm) but in one stack we pack sheets of same thickness. There could be 1000 to 2000 sheets in one stack.

The dimensions of the sheet packed in the stack is approximately 895 mm Wide and 660 mm long and 0.24 mm thick.

The stack/pile is not perfect and there are sheets that might be misaligned in the stack. The production speed is fast and there is only 2 seconds available for counting the sheets in the stack. 

We are looking for a solution (including portable handle device) that:

• Counts the number of sheets in a stack 
• Is able to print the output 
• Is able to store the data for the stacks and transmit to the central system 
• Should be able to work in a steel manufacturing environment  Should be cheap enough for us to give it to our customers (receiving end) for them to count and verify