DIY Pick and Place machine - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: briandorey
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 23, 2013, 01:11:22 pm
content: For the past 4-5 months I and my brother have been designing and building a DIY pick and place machine to place surface mount components on circuit boards.We built our own machine rather than buying one due to the large amount of space a commercial machine takes up and the cost to buy them!I have got a new blog post athttp://briandorey.com/post/DIY-Pick-and-Place-V2-Project-Complete.aspxwhich shows the various parts of the machine and a video of the machine running:The machine is driven by Mach3 and a Smoothstepper interface board with an Arduino mini to control the feeder activator system.Current placement rate is around 600 components per hour.

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 23, 2013, 01:58:13 pm
content: A few comments :A much better effort than most of the ones we've seen so far - at least you've realised that feeders are essential. You probably want to get overall speed up by about a factor of two though to make it more useful.I didn't see any mention of auto nozzle change - this is important for unattended operation.You don't need seperate holders for each size on the vib feeder - just a channel with an adjustable endstop for the different lengths.It seems to spend a lot of time waiting for one move to complete before starting the next - it could often be starting an X/Y move while the Z axis is completing its move

author: briandorey
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 23, 2013, 02:04:21 pm
content: Quote from: mikeselectricstuff on November 23, 2013, 01:58:13 pmThank you for the feedback, the auto nozzle changer is on the list of future updates and the vib feeder is work in progress.The delays between each move are due to limitations on the Mach3 software and Smoothstepper interface board, there is a 100-200ms delay when each command is sent such as turning on and off the relays, valves etc which is adding delays to the normal movement.Version 2.1 control board is going to use a separate microcontroller as a usb slave so it can receive the commands directly from the PC while Mach3 is driving the steppers. This will hopefully get rid of the annoying delays.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 23, 2013, 02:53:00 pm
content: It looks awesome but still I wonder whether it isn't cheaper to have the boards assembled. If you look around you'll find assembly houses which will assemble small series very cheap.

author: Alphatronique
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 23, 2013, 03:42:00 pm
content: HiFirst really nice machineyou may try to look Dynomotion controllerhttp://dynomotion.com/KFLOP.htmlhave much more flexibility that dynomotion ,have possibility to program on the controller most of your function so you end upwhit pc sending witch feeder and Y,X,thetra of part then controller do the rest by itselfdynomotion have also trajectory planner and good command bufferthat kind of approach i take when i make my "phoenix" pick placebut at that time unfortunately i was not aware of the dynomotion.even if diy pick place was fun and instructive ,my "phoenix" have end-up in junk-yardand replace my a single MyData machine ,that cost less that the whole phoenix project ...

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 23, 2013, 03:44:05 pm
content: Quote from: nctnico on November 23, 2013, 02:53:00 pm.or bought a used machine - the amount of time spent on this must have been way more than what you can get a used machine with similar capability for.

author: briandorey
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 23, 2013, 03:55:50 pm
content: Quote from: mikeselectricstuff on November 23, 2013, 03:44:05 pmI looked at several used machines but couldnt find anything small enough to fit in the workshop. The cheapest business unit in town is £10,000+ per year so that was a lot more than i wanted to spend to automate the board production and buy a used machine as well.

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 23, 2013, 04:35:18 pm
content: Quote from: briandorey on November 23, 2013, 03:55:50 pmThe old Versatronics RV1/RV4 machines can be had for £2-5K depending on condition & feeders, and are small enough for most locations. Although it comes in a fairly big frame/stand, much of it is empty space which can be used as storage.I'm surprised that in the 15-odd years since it came out that no new comparable machines have appeared. When I was looking at machines there just wasn't anything nearly as small. I think the TWS Quadra & smallest Fritch machines were the next size up, and quite a lot bigger.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 23, 2013, 05:25:31 pm
content: do you plan to sell? how much estimated cost so far?

author: briandorey
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 23, 2013, 05:30:14 pm
content: Quote from: Mechatrommer on November 23, 2013, 05:25:31 pmI dont think it would be viable to make these to sell with the time spent building it with our basic metalworking kit.The total cost of materials and parts to build this machine was £3659.60.

author: David_AVD
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 23, 2013, 09:12:49 pm
content: It seems a little slow, but still a good DIY effort.

author: Jane
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 23, 2013, 09:58:13 pm
content: There is also openPnP project, see athttps://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/openpnp

author: Kjelt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 23, 2013, 10:43:36 pm
content: Great work! I wonder how many pcb's do you do in one serie if you need such a machine?

author: mjrandle
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 23, 2013, 11:17:07 pm
content: Nice work, thanks for sharing. I would be interested to know how fast it goes once you are done refining it.

author: briandorey
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 24, 2013, 11:46:11 am
content: Quote from: Kjelt on November 23, 2013, 10:43:36 pmWe have been building 50+ a day by hand (approx 15 per hour) and after 40ish boards, mistakes start to appear due to the concentration needed to place everything perfectly every time. The first day the new machine was running it did 100 boards in a 3 hour run which was much easier