For a year I've been working on building a Magic the Gathering card scanner and sorting machine to make doing inventory for my giant Magic the Gathering collection easier! I've come a long way and I'm almost done, but I thought some of the final portions of the build would be great on your show. The scanner utilizes OpenCV for image recognition(implemented in Python), mysql and php for inventory management, and Arduino to physically feed and sort cards. Currently the image recognition is done and and the prototype for the card feeder mechanism is done. The final portion of the build will be a cnc arm controlled by an arduino to sort the cards alphabetically using a merge sort algorithm. The merge sort algorithm is done but the CNC portion is not. Here are some video links to the portions of the project that are functional.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDuNAFJ9yYg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mru4baKTXW8
I think building the CNC sorting portion would be awesome on the show. Also since the project incorporates a lot of different technologies such as OpenCV and Mysql databases that could be talked about as well. Finally lots of engineers and coders and gamers LOVE Magic The Gathering and have huge collections that they might want to sort! I hope you'll consider this project, and I'd love to explain it in greater detail via Skype or phone (I'm not so great at explaining things in written form). Thank you for all the great videos you've done over the years. Your work was the inspiration for me to learn coding and electronics, and has made my life waaaaay cooler!
Kind Regards
Spencer Marugg