PartsSweeper: interactive workbench to casually organize electronic parts and tools

Electronics workbenches often becomes messy, as various electronic parts and tools are used repeatedly. To solve this problem, we propose a system called "PartsSweeper", which cleans up both parts and tools on electronics workbenches. The PartsSweeper mainly consists of a customized XY plotter and GUI software on a tablet. We attached several magnets, servomotors, and lift mechanisms on a head of the XY plotter. As most electronic parts and tools are ferromagnetic, the system can move them along with the head while the magnet is lifted. Moreover, the system can selectively move parts and tools using two magnets of different force; while the strong magnet can move both tools and parts, the weak magnet moves only small parts.