I'm not sure what it is about red skittles that are so good, or what it is about the yellow ones that I'm averse to. Or why blue M&Ms seem to taste much better than the brown ones. Engineer and artist Brian Egenriether likely had these same deep thoughts when he invented the appliance that certainly every household needs: the Skittles Sorting Machine. Tinkering around in his lab for about five weekends straight, he created this genius device that uses a sensor to detect colors and then sorts them, at a rate of about 37 Skittles per minute.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL1Nv1j3bWQ
Egenriether created it using a wood base, with a funnel made from a hummingbird feeder, and the rest from telescope parts and PVC. Egenriether says it will work for Reese's Pieces as well as M&Ms, "However since it was originally designed for Skittles, there are only five bowls, but six colors of M&Ms. I put the blue and brown M&Ms in the same bowl." Is the Skittles Sorting Machine a device that will change the world for the better? Probably not, but at least it will allow us all to have a little mindless fun in the meantime, while gaining easy access to those coveted red Skittles.
Images via Mechatronic