An Arduino-based automated clothes sorting system that uses a TCS3200 Colour Sensor and Servo Motors to classify garments into separate compartments based on their colour, reducing manual effort and preventing colour mixing during washing.
Sorting white and coloured clothes before washing is a repetitive and time-consuming task. Mixing garments of different colours may result in colour bleeding, fading, and fabric damage.
The Automatic Clothes Segregator is an embedded automation project that identifies garment colour using a TCS3200 Color Sensor and automatically directs the cloth into the appropriate compartment using servo motors controlled by an Arduino Nano/Uno.
This project demonstrates how low-cost sensors and microcontrollers can be integrated to automate sorting operations in laundry services, garment manufacturing, and textile industries.
- Automate the process of clothes segregation.
- Reduce human effort in laundry operations.
- Prevent colour mixing during washing.
- Improve sorting efficiency and accuracy.
- Demonstrate practical applications of embedded systems and sensor interfacing.
- Automatic colour detection using TCS3200 sensor
- Servo-based cloth transportation and sorting
- Arduino-controlled decision making
- Real-time classification of garments
- Compact and low-cost hardware design
- Suitable for educational and industrial automation applications
| Component | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Arduino Nano / Uno | 1 |
| TCS3200 Colour Sensor | 1 |
| Servo Motor (SG90) | 2 |
| 5V Power Supply | 1 |
| Sorting Compartments | 2 |
| Connecting Wires | As Required |
- Arduino IDE
- Embedded C Programming
- Servo Library
- TCS3200 Sensor Interface Code
- A cloth is placed at the input section.
- Servo Motor 1 moves the cloth beneath the colour sensor.
- The TCS3200 sensor detects the cloth colour.
- The sensor output is processed by the Arduino Nano.
- The controller compares the detected values with predefined thresholds.
- Servo Motor 2 rotates accordingly.
- The cloth is directed into:
- Compartment 1 → White Clothes
- Compartment 2 → Coloured Clothes
Input Clothes
│
▼
Servo Motor 1
│
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TCS3200 Colour Sensor
│
▼
Arduino Nano/Uno
│
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Servo Motor 2
│
┌────┴────┐
▼ ▼
White Coloured
Bin Bin
| TCS3200 Pin | Arduino Pin |
|---|---|
| VCC | 5V |
| GND | GND |
| S0 | D2 |
| S1 | D3 |
| S2 | D4 |
| S3 | D5 |
| OUT | D6 |
| Servo Pin | Arduino Pin |
|---|---|
| Servo 1 Signal | D7 |
| Servo 2 Signal | D8 |
| VCC | 5V |
| GND | GND |
The TCS3200 Colour Sensor consists of an array of photodiodes with red, green, blue, and clear filters. When a garment is placed below the sensor, reflected light is converted into frequency signals corresponding to RGB values.
The Arduino Nano reads these values and determines whether the cloth belongs to the white category or coloured category. Based on this decision, Servo Motor 2 rotates to guide the cloth into the appropriate compartment.
This process is fully automated and requires minimal human intervention.
The prototype was tested on 100 clothing samples under controlled conditions.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Colour Detection Accuracy | 95% |
| Reliability | 95% |
| Measurement Range | 100% Visible Spectrum |
| Calibration Requirement | Periodic |
✅ Accurate segregation of white and coloured garments
✅ Reduced manual sorting effort
✅ Reliable operation in controlled lighting conditions
✅ Low-cost and scalable implementation
- Smart Laundry Systems
- Textile Manufacturing Industries
- Garment Processing Units
- Retail Clothing Sorting
- Automated Warehousing
- Industrial Automation Systems
- Multi-colour classification
- Fabric type identification
- Conveyor belt integration
- Camera-based computer vision system
- Machine Learning based colour recognition