--- title: Robotic Screw And Bolt Sorter Seeks A New Challenge description: A DIY robotic sorting system built by [Aad] automatically sorts mixed screws and bolts using machine vision, a repurposed Ultimaker 3D printer frame, and an... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/robotic-screw-and-bolt-sorter-seeks-a-new-challenge-nhz3sujxj twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Robotic Screw And Bolt Sorter Seeks A New Challenge | daily.dev og:description: A DIY robotic sorting system built by [Aad] automatically sorts mixed screws and bolts using machine vision, a repurposed Ultimaker 3D printer frame, and an... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/robotic-screw-and-bolt-sorter-seeks-a-new-challenge-nhz3sujxj og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/nHZ3Sujxj.png og:image:alt: Robotic Screw And Bolt Sorter Seeks A New Challenge og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Robotic Screw And Bolt Sorter Seeks A New Challenge **[Hackaday](https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday)** · 2 min read · 2 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A DIY robotic sorting system built by [Aad] automatically sorts mixed screws and bolts using machine vision, a repurposed Ultimaker 3D printer frame, and an ESP32-based control system. Objects are fed via conveyor belt onto an illuminated platform, identified by an overhead ESP32-CAM with M12 lens, then picked and placed by a robotic gripper on a gantry. Optional features include weight measurement and USB microscope inspection. The system is designed as a general-purpose small-object sorter, not limited to fasteners. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How can I build a DIY robotic sorter for small objects like screws using an ESP32 and machine vision? A working small-object sorter can be built using a repurposed Ultimaker 3D printer frame as the gantry, an ESP32-WROOM board to control servos and steppers, and an ESP32-CAM fitted with an M12 lens as the overhead camera. Machine vision detects size, shape, and orientation of each object on an illuminated platform, and a robotic gripper picks and places them into categorized receptacles. A piezo sensor detects objects falling off the conveyor. _Makers tackling similar robotics builds share component choices and lessons learned on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Simple Screw Counter](https://daily.dev/posts/simple-screw-counter-0e6fpmdaj) · Hacker News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [The Machines that Make the Machines](https://daily.dev/posts/the-machines-that-make-the-machines-bwv6rwvbb) · NVIDIA Developer · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [How a Smart Recycling Robot Dismantles Old Devices](https://daily.dev/posts/how-a-smart-recycling-robot-dismantles-old-devices-maocwnkta) · IEEE Spectrum · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Making A Robot To Serve Some Mean Badminton Shuttlecocks](https://daily.dev/posts/making-a-robot-to-serve-some-mean-badminton-shuttlecocks-wmdce129o) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Robotic lab sets up and runs optics experiments on demand](https://daily.dev/posts/robotic-lab-sets-up-and-runs-optics-experiments-on-demand-2usto3skc) · MIT News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#iot](https://daily.dev/tags/iot), [#computer-vision](https://daily.dev/tags/computer-vision), [#robotics](https://daily.dev/tags/robotics) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/robotic-screw-and-bolt-sorter-seeks-a-new-challenge-nhz3sujxj) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Robotic Screw And Bolt Sorter Seeks A New Challenge","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/robotic-screw-and-bolt-sorter-seeks-a-new-challenge-nhz3sujxj","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/robotic-screw-and-bolt-sorter-seeks-a-new-challenge-nhz3sujxj"},"datePublished":"2026-08-08T17:20:38.202Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T07:41:47.962Z","description":"A DIY robotic sorting system built by [Aad] automatically sorts mixed screws and bolts using machine vision, a repurposed Ultimaker 3D printer frame, and an...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/a87e280f220fc5a9d2ca00d0e759ca45?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/a87e280f220fc5a9d2ca00d0e759ca45?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Hackaday","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Hackaday","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--JhDfhy70--/f_auto,q_auto/v1767541814/logos/hackaday","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/robotic-screw-and-bolt-sorter-seeks-a-new-challenge-nhz3sujxj","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":2},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"iot,computer-vision,robotics","timeRequired":"PT2M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hackaday","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Robotic Screw And Bolt Sorter Seeks A New Challenge"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/robotic-screw-and-bolt-sorter-seeks-a-new-challenge-nhz3sujxj#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How can I build a DIY robotic sorter for small objects like screws using an ESP32 and machine vision?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"A working small-object sorter can be built using a repurposed Ultimaker 3D printer frame as the gantry, an ESP32-WROOM board to control servos and steppers, and an ESP32-CAM fitted with an M12 lens as the overhead camera. 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