Homemade pick-and-place from old scanner - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: matseng
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2016, 03:49:50 am
content: This homemade pick-and-place must have the best complexity vs usability ratio I've seen so far. A scavenged scanner plus parts from an old printer and hey presto! - a fully usable machine that takes care of all those pesky discretes... I love it.https://youtu.be/i0ZT4y3DYrY?t=2m52s

author: rx8pilot
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2016, 04:48:38 am
content: Its a clever use of old stuff. I love the comment...."This is the future of production"(3) 8mm tapes and dreadfully slow, I would much rather hand build the PCB's.

author: sleemanj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2016, 04:59:21 am
content: Quote from: rx8pilot on January 25, 2016, 04:48:38 amSpeed doesn't really matter if you just set it going and go do something else.

author: matseng
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2016, 05:09:27 am
content: For being a cheapass contraption cobbled up of random parts I think it does a marvellous job. Much easier to build than Redfrog for instance and also about the same speed. Of course is doesn't even compare to one of the Neoden $5-10K machines, or yours $50K(?) machine.I don't see the 8mm tapes as a big obstacle since that what's the discretes are using, it would be nice to have a few more rows of them though...Think I rather use a slow machine like this instead of manually placing 50-100 parts on two dozens of boards. I've done that a couple of times and my old eyes & back really doesn't like that. So for me - better slow than hurt.But I think it's time for me to invest in a TM220, I've got a project where I need to populate 200 boards with about 700 pieces of 0603's and sot23's each. Having a PCBA in China do that for me would cost between 50 and 75% of a TM, so it almost makes economical sense at the first run. Maybe there will be TM220's on the second hand market soon with all the new bigger/faster/better machines coming out.

author: rx8pilot
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2016, 06:08:22 am
content: I just recently got my P&P up to full speed. For a while I was doing part of my PCB's in the P&P and part of it by hand for parts that could not go into the machine. It was great to get familiar with the P&P but ultimately, it was really a challenge to have a split process. The P&P was only faster than hand assembly once I got all the feeders and was able to do the whole PCB in one shot. Organizing and designing the assembly process from end-to-end consumed a lot of time.My eyes really opened up when I got a machine - a full commercial system. The planning, setup, programming, alignment, fiddling, etc is not trivial. I had spent the last two years manually assembling PCBs and was hoping that P&P would be a white knight coming to save the day. Not so fast. It is really a serious challenge if you are hoping to make money. For a hobby, TM220/TM240 seem awesome and fun - but not really something you could hand a biz on. A little project like this one that can put a few passives down at a time is cool, fun, and interesting as a project - just not particularly useful in the end.

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2016, 02:12:54 am
content: No part rotation as far as I could tell, so the parts have to be oriented in the tray.Still pretty cool.

author: MT
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 06, 2016, 10:39:38 pm
content: Neat! Adding rotation cant be to much of problem...

author: EagleTG
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 07, 2016, 04:58:33 am
content: I love it! Awesome project.

author: crispy_tofu
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 07, 2016, 05:07:44 am
content: Very cool!

author: RobertBG
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 25, 2016, 03:49:49 pm
content: Awesome stuffAs with any home built machine there's always a few limitations but I can only see this improving from what is already a great product.I see myself making something similar in the near future.I really dont do enough production to justify a real machine but with a few tweaks this could potentially handle most if not all of my needs and allow me to keep things in house.As for the guy complaining about it being slow.............by all means keep doing yours by handI had a few quick ideas.Have you thought about using a vacuum canister and a solenoid to keep from having to cycle the pump for each part?Essentially like the reverse of a compressor and tank?Granted I dont see any big issues with the current setup but it might help speed things up and allow for a more constant vacuum to help consistency.You could easily find what you need in the automotive sector at a junk yardCan you modify the code to allow you to sacrifice some board space to allow more parts?It may or may not be worth it but being able to pick from both sides could really speed things up,allow you to swap trays quickly and have more complete boards at the end.I think it'd be worth trying but again I'm sure this is something that you'll get dialed in with time.Anyways thanks for sharing

author: JuKu
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2016, 07:35:20 pm
content: Very, very clever and cool. I thought my pnp is as cheap as simple as it can possibly be. Boy, I was wrong!

author: KE5FX
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2016, 08:00:32 pm
content: Shouldn't need tape at all, just a bunch of loose parts in bins, a rotating vacuum pen to pick them up, and a camera for feedback.Pick up the part from the bin, and drop it on a surface midway between the bins and the PCB being assembled. Use something like OpenCV to identify the orientation of the part. Pick it up again, rotate it into the required orientation, and place it on the board. Lather, rinse, repeat.Yes, this will be ridiculously slow for production, but I can't think of a better/cheaper system for prototype construction. Unlike any other pick/place machine, there is no limit on the number of parts apart from the X/Y arm's travel range, and it can run 100% unattended. (Did a part land upside down the first time it was dropped? Pick it up and drop it again, until its orientation is recognizable.)One of those things I'd tackle if I had a whole lot more free time than I do.For extra credit, use the same platform to dispense paste and preheat the board for soldering.

author: JuKu
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 10, 2016, 12:14:32 pm
content: Quote from: KE5FX on March 08, 2016, 08:00:32 pmSounds like me doing manual assembly with tweezers!

author: KE5FX
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 10, 2016, 10:38:52 pm
content: Quote from: JuKu on March 10, 2016, 12:14:32 pmActually I thought of this while watching your video. It just seems like the tape is a needless complication, given that your market is prototype assembly where (presumably) the user isn't in a hurry. The tape's only function is to establish the initial pickup location and orientation, right?

author: JuKu
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 11, 2016, 06:31:45 pm
content: That, and after all, that is how the parts come.