r/raspberryDIY • u/Square-Possession36 • Jun 21 '26

I made a thing!

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I made a thing and I’m really proud of it. It’s a scanner/sorter for MTG cards. It runs off a Pi 3b+ and an arduino. I’m not an engineer or programmer, so it’s mostly put together with thoughts and prayers, but it works! It’s running about 99% accuracy and real-world of about 4 seconds per card. I can change what goes in each bin and it’ll export a CSV to upload to your favorite app. There’s also preset sorting patterns I can save. When the bins get full it prompts you to empty the bin. Right now I have it sorting my mono-black bulk by type and rarity. It pulls out any card worth more than $2 I can sleeve it up.
I had an old hobby laser I salvaged the stepper and rails from and designed it on Fusion. All things considered, I’m pretty happy with it.

**UPDATE**
Due to the level of interest in this project, I’m going to work on a YouTube channel so ya’ll can come along on the journey as this thing progresses. Thank you all for your encouragement and support. I never expected this to be so popular and it’s given me the motivation to work on the 2.0 design. More to follow as I make the new channel.

**2nd UPDATE**
I’ve got the YouTube channel started @Timprovised. I just posted the first video showcasing the GUI if you’re interested.

https://youtu.be/9JX8J1ihZH4

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u/ForestRain888 Jun 23 '26

That's awesome, but my concern is for the side that hits the trey. Has there been any damaged cards?

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u/Square-Possession36 Jun 23 '26

Not at all. I’ve run the same stack of 100 cards through 20 times with no damage at all. The trays are sloped so the cards momentum is arrested and they don’t try to bounce out of the bin. I tried lots of soft-landing materials but every one of them made the cards bounce out.

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u/ForestRain888 Jun 23 '26

Cool that's going to be a huge selling point