An automatic counting system counts items as they move through your plant, on a conveyor, into a pack or out of the door, and records every count. We build it with a camera, a sensor or a weighing station, whichever counts your items most reliably, and connect the result to your PLC, ERP or reports.
An automatic counting system counts products or parts without a person doing it by hand. It sits at a fixed point in the process, counts every item that passes or every item in a pack, and records the result against a batch, order or shift.
There are three main ways to count, and the right one depends on the items. Machine vision uses a camera and software to find and count each item, and can tell items apart, count when they touch, and check them at the same time. Photoelectric sensors count items that pass one at a time, simply and cheaply. Count-by-weight divides the weight of a batch by the average weight of one piece, which suits small identical parts.
An honest system design starts with the items, not the technology. Where a sensor or a scale will count your product reliably, we will recommend it over a camera.
Items arrive on a conveyor, through a vibratory or belt feeder, in a tray or as a stack. Where needed the feed is designed to separate them, which makes counting more reliable.
A camera images the flow or the pack, a photoelectric sensor detects each item passing, or a load cell weighs the batch.
Software counts every item. With vision, the same image can also check size, colour, orientation or damage, so counting and inspection happen together.
At the target count the system can stop a feeder, switch a gate, trigger a bagger or flag a short pack for correction.
Counts are saved per batch, pack, order or shift, with images where vision is used, and sent to your PLC, ERP or production reports.
Classic image processing separates items from the background and counts each connected shape. It is fast and dependable when items contrast well with the belt or tray and do not overlap heavily.
A trained model finds and counts each item even when items touch, overlap, vary in shape or sit on a busy background. It suits soft goods such as garments, mixed parts and natural products.
A line-scan camera images a continuous stream of items on a fast conveyor, building one long image so no item is missed or counted twice between frames.
A light beam counts each item that breaks it. Simple, quick and inexpensive, but only reliable when items pass one at a time with a gap between them.
A weighing station divides the batch weight by the average piece weight. It suits small identical parts, and its accuracy depends on how consistent the piece weight is. Automatic weighing instruments are covered by OIML R 51.
Two example project scopes showing how the station, the checks and the outputs are defined. Every plant is different, so the final configuration is confirmed after a feasibility study on your own parts.
The situation: A garment factory counts finished pieces and cut panels by hand at packing and bundling, and short or over counts lead to buyer queries and re-work.
The situation: A components manufacturer packs small parts in fixed quantities and counts them by hand or by approximate weight.
Industrial cameras, lenses, line-scan cameras and code readers are available through our machine vision catalog, quoted with delivery to Sri Lanka. We select the hardware for your application during the feasibility study.
Browse the hardware catalogEvery product, surface and line behaves differently under a camera, so every project starts with evidence from your own material.
A site visit to understand your product, line speed, quality criteria and where the check should sit.
We image your good and defective samples and show what the system can reliably detect. This is the go or no-go.
One station on one line, running beside your inspectors until results match and your team trusts them.
More lines, integration with your PLC and systems, and local support from our Sri Lankan engineering team.
Vision error-proofing (poka-yoke) for assembly lines: confirm every component is present, correct, oriented and seated, count parts, and keep an image record of each assembly for traceability.
Vision inspection for labels, caps, fill levels, seals and cartons. Check the right label is present, straight and legible, caps are fitted, containers are filled and packs are sealed, on every unit at line speed.
Optical sorting and grading for tea, spices, coconut, nuts, grains and fresh produce. Colour, NIR and hyperspectral vision remove stalks, foreign matter and defective product, and grade by colour and size.
Sort fabric rolls, cut panels and washed garments into buyer shade bands with CIELAB measurement and 555 codes.
Every machine vision application we design and build, in one place.
It depends on the items. Photoelectric sensors are cheapest when items pass one at a time with a gap. Count-by-weight suits small identical parts with a consistent weight. Machine vision is the choice when items touch or overlap, vary in shape, or need checking as well as counting. We recommend whichever counts your product most reliably.
Yes, within limits. Deep learning object detection can separate touching and partly overlapping items. Heavy stacking or items fully hidden behind others cannot be counted from one view, so the feed is often designed to spread items out before counting.
Yes. Soft items change shape, so deep learning detection is usually used rather than fixed rules. Counting can be done on a conveyor, at a packing table or from an overhead camera at bundling.
Accuracy depends mainly on how the items are presented. Well-separated items on a contrasting background are counted very reliably; touching, overlapping or tangled items are harder. We assess the items and the line first, and agree the accuracy target with you before a system is built.
Yes. Counts can be sent to a PLC over digital I/O, Modbus TCP or OPC UA, and to ERP or production systems as reports or data exports, so the count is recorded against each batch or order.
With machine vision, yes. The same image used for counting can check size, colour, orientation or damage, so wrong or defective items are flagged during the count rather than afterwards.
Tell us what you need to check and share some good and faulty samples. We will show you what a camera can reliably see before you commit to anything.
Photographs show representative plants and equipment, not Cerox installations or client sites. Diagrams by Cerox Engineering. Photo credits, via Wikimedia Commons: Accumulation roller conveyor for cartons and totes by Kay-Uwe Rosseburg, CC BY 3.0; Counting tablets by hand by Carter Jake, Public domain.