Count rivets in a tray from a photo

Counting rivets by size before a build or repair

Rivets are small, and a bin of them often holds sizes that differ by a millimeter of diameter or a few millimeters of grip range. Assembly and repair shops count them for job kits, for goods-in checks on bulk deliveries and for bin audits. A photo count handles the quantity, but it cannot tell you the grip range of a rivet that looks identical to its neighbor, so sorting happens before the photo, not after.

Blind rivets have a mandrel sticking out of the head, and from above the head and mandrel can read as two shapes. Lay them on their sides, all pointing the same way, and mark one complete rivet as the example in Similar items so the whole part is the unit. Solid rivets are shorter; polished aluminum heads reflect, so use diffuse light from two sides rather than one lamp.

Scan the result for two markers on a single rivet and for stray mandrels that snapped off during handling. Each size goes into its own tally row so the CSV mirrors the bin labels. Washers fitted with the rivets can be counted on the same tray afterward, and the inventory counter collects rows across a whole parts store.

Rivet tray checks

• One diameter and grip range per photo
• Rivets on their sides, pointing the same way
• Loose mandrels removed from the tray
• Soft light from two sides for polished heads