Published July 22, 2023

How to use Object Counter in Arduino

Welcome to our comprehensive Arduino Object Counter tutorial!

BeginnerFull instructions provided2,551

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Arduino UNO

Jumper wires (generic)

Breadboard (generic)

Software apps and online services

Arduino IDE

Story

Welcome to our comprehensive Arduino Object Counter tutorial! In this video, we'll show you how to build a simple yet effective object counter using an Arduino board and some basic electronic components. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced maker, this project is perfect for honing your Arduino skills and understanding the concept of object detection and counting.

Creating a turn counter (object counter) using Arduino is a common and straightforward project. You can use an infrared sensor to detect the presence of an object and count the number of times the object passes through the sensor. Here's a basic Arduino code to implement a turn counter using an infrared sensor,

Arduino object counter

// Pin configuration
const int sensorPin = 2;  // Connect the infrared sensor's output pin to Arduino pin 2

// Variables
int objectCount = 0;      // Counter to keep track of the number of objects
int sensorState = 0;      // Current state of the sensor (HIGH or LOW)
int lastSensorState = 0;  // Previous state of the sensor

void setup() {
  pinMode(sensorPin, INPUT);  // Set sensor pin as input
  Serial.begin(9600);         // Initialize serial communication for debugging
}

void loop() {
  sensorState = digitalRead(sensorPin);  // Read the state of the sensor

  // Check if the sensor state has changed (object detected)
  if (sensorState != lastSensorState) {
    if (sensorState == HIGH) {
      objectCount++;  // Increment the object count when an object is detected
      Serial.print("Object detected! Count: ");
      Serial.println(objectCount);
    }

    // Delay to debounce the sensor (avoid multiple counts for a single object)
    delay(50);
  }

  lastSensorState = sensorState;  // Update the last sensor state for the next iteration
}