The Emerald Brick Sorter
While searching for a more efficient way to sort repurposed LEGO® bricks and parts, Julia explored existing automated solutions that could be used in a studio setting.
Unfortunately, no such system existed at a reasonable price point, especially for a small business without advanced technical resources.
Through conversations with members of the Seattle tech community, Julia was encouraged to consider building a custom solution from scratch. That’s when she invited Dan to take on the project.
Several months later, the Emerald Brick Sorter was installed in Julia’s downtown Seattle studio.
About the Emerald Brick Sorter
The Emerald Brick Sorter is a custom-built prototype designed to automate the sorting of LEGO® bricks. In simple terms, it takes a pile of random LEGO® bricks, identifies them one at a time, and then sorts each into a designated bin. At the same time, it builds a digital catalog of each piece, recording official part numbers and colors in a growing database.
The sorting process consists of three primary stages:
1) Part Separator: This stage converts a bulk collection of unsorted bricks into a controlled, single-piece flow for processing.
2) Vision Chamber: A camera detects incoming bricks and captures a high-resolution image of each one. The image is then analyzed by Brickognize, an AI-powered recognition tool.
3) Bin sorter: Once identified, each brick is directed into one of 16 sorting bins.
How It Works
At its core, the Emerald Brick Sorter is powered by a Raspberry Pi 5 and an Arduino Mega 2560 microcontroller working together. The Raspberry Pi manages high-level functions, including:
- The vision system
- Custom graphical user interface
- Touchscreen operation
- Internet connectivity
The Arduino handles low-level operations such as:
- DC and servo motors
- Speed and laser sensors
- Internal lighting systems
Together, they run over 3,000 lines of custom software and 1,000 lines of custom firmware, connected through a purpose-built communication protocol that keeps the system synchronized throughout the sorting process.
What Can It Sort?
A common question is: How does it decide what goes where?
Because the system identifies each piece using official LEGO® part numbers, it can sort based on virtually any attribute, including:
- Color
- Shape or part type
- Set origin
- Rarity or aftermarket value
In practice, this means the sorting criteria can be customized at any time, allowing for flexible, use-case-driven organization at the click of a button.
About the Creator
The Emerald Brick Sorter was designed and built by Dan Cox, a former senior engineer at Boeing. Although new to small-scale automation and embedded systems, Dan applied over 20 years of engineering experience to design, test, and build each subsystem of the machine. With a background in airframe structural analysis, he brings a practical guarantee: the sorter isn’t just smart, it’s built to last.