There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who eat Skittles candy by the handful oblivious to what colors and flavors they’re consuming, and those who dump the candies out and carefully categorize them by color before popping them one at a time or in thoughtful combinations.
If you’re the former, you can stop reading here. This story is not for you.
But if you’re anything like me, you know how deeply satisfying it can be to make colorful, organized groupings out of that jumble of mixed-up candy. It’s creating order out of chaos in a way that just makes the world seem a little less daunting. Or, maybe it’s just an indefensible compulsion. Who knows!
Either way, you’ll want to feast your eyes on this work of true genius: a machine that sorts Skittles and M&Ms by color.
Willem Pennings, the mastermind behind the device, is a 19-year-old New Zealander studying mechanical engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology, according to his website.
Pennings gives a basic explanation of how the device works in the video, but you can find a deeper dive here in case you’re mechanically minded enough to want to give it a try on your own. He also answered some questions in a Reddit thread.
I’m just a math-challenged journalism grad with Skittles issues, so I’ll be over here watching the soothing sorting device do its thing on loop.
