We call them “deck builders” for a reason: because players end up with huge piles of trading cards. They can get difficult to manage, which is why the ManaBox app exists for Magic: The Gathering. It lets collectors scan and log their decks, which is handy for everything from finding market values to optimizing deck builds. To speed up the scanning process, Fraens designed this 3D-printable rig.
The ManaBox app has a nice feature that lets users scan cards with their phone’s camera. The app recognizes the scanned card and then adds it to the library. But doing that manually, one card at a time, can be a labor-intensive process for large collections. This rig automates that by feeding cards from a deck to a scanning area. After the app logs a card, the machine moves on to the next card.
That happens under the control of an Arduino Nano board. It turns the feed motor through a basic L298N H-bridge driver. A light dependent resistor triggers when a card is in position, so the Arduino knows when to stop the motor.
But it is the motor starting process that is particularly clever. Fraens needed a way for the machine to determine when a scan finishes, so it can push the next card into place. The ManaBox app plays a sound after a successful scan and the Arduino listens for that through a microphone. When it hears the sound (or any sound — the room must be quiet), it knows to proceed.
However, Fraens ran into an issue with scanning certain reflective cards. Too much glare would ruin a scan, so Fraens added a diffused LED ring light with adjustable brightness and hue. After putting a new card in place, the machine waits to hear the notification sound of a successful scan. If too much time passes without that sound, the Arduino will begin adjusting the lighting parameters until the scan succeeds.
This is, of course, an awful lot of work if you only have a few dozen cards. But if you have hundreds or thousands in your collection, it could be worthwhile.
The post Quickly digitize your Magic deck with this 3D-printable scanning rig appeared first on Arduino Blog.
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