This Handy Handheld Device Quickly Counts Out SMD Components

THT components may be easier to get into place and solder by hand, but SMD components are more automation-friendly, affordable, and result in far more space-efficient boards. But because they’re so small, it can be difficult to quickly grab a reel and count out a specific number of SMD components — or to count how many are left on the reel. That’s why Serhii built ReelTrack, which is a handy handheld device that makes it easy to quickly count the number of SMD components on a reel.

Using ReelTrack is simple: just press the buttons to set the pitch and feed direction, and then pull a reel all the way through to count the total or stop at a specific quantity. The display will show the current count. You could even mark the reel at specific intervals to quickly divide a long reel up into desired quantities.

ReelTrack works with reels with widths of 8, 12, or 16mm and pitches of 2, 4, 8, 12, or 16mm. It is suitable for most SMD components ranging in size from 0201 to 1210. It can scan up to 1 meter of reel per second and count up to 9,999 pieces, with a tolerance of +/- two pieces.

Sadly, Serhii hasn’t yet published design files or details on the hardware inside ReelTrack. We know it has an OLED display and a 3D-printed enclosure, but everything beyond that is speculation. It appears to use an LED with a photoresistor to detect the dark spots on the on reel, which correspond to SMD components. It is safe to say that there is a microcontroller doing the counting and updating the display.

Hopefully Serhii will provide more details soon, as many people would be interested in using ReelTrack to count their components.