ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Counter automaton

A counter automaton is a type of machine that keeps track of how many times something happens. It does this by counting up each time a certain event happens, like the number of times a button is pushed or a door opened. The counter automaton uses numbers to keep track of how many times the event happened, and then it can be used for different things like counting how many people have come into a store.