Mechatronika M40 Feederbank - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Amateurtje
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: July 25, 2023, 02:11:42 pm
content: Hello,I have a small lite placer P&P with openpnp. I already have some printed feeders active on the machine but I just got a feederbank from a Mechatronika M40 from a friend.Now I want to see if I can make them work from my processor but I have no idea yet how they work.I see on the connector 6 working connections:- +36 Volt- +5 Volt- GND- CLR- DAT- BUTThe three last lines do probably some kind of communication. Has anybody any idea how these modules communicate? What is the protocol?Can anybody help me forward?greetings

author: IconicPCB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 27, 2023, 02:10:03 am
content: I think feeders work on RS232 protocol.You may be able to install RS232 sniffer to decode the instructions.But if you contact Mechatronika and ask for Dariusz he may be able to help You.In any case there is a member here in this space who is particularly unhappy with his purchase of Mechatronika despite the extensive hand holding he had received from Mechatronika... he may be able to advise the protocol(s).

author: MR
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 27, 2023, 04:23:50 am
content: Quote from: IconicPCB on July 27, 2023, 02:10:03 am"despite the extensive hand holding he had received" I'd better be silent if I were you, you seem to have no idea what they have done. They act as if they did anything for free, no they charged over 10K USD for their shit service.- they reworked the machine (installed new BLDC motors from Delta) and did not install the pulley properly on it which caused the PID to oscillate the portal. This happened maybe like a half hour of operation, sometimes after a few hours; We fixed it the wrong way first by tightening the Belt (no word from Mechatronika about that). As a manufacturer I'd immediately say don't touch the machine we're sorry. (issues can happen but issues handling like Mechatronika does is the worst way a company can do).- they serviced all the feeders, charged money and that shit still does not work reliable, after opening the feeder boxes I was surprised that they're so cheap (200$ (per lane) for a simple solenoid stub on a plate, while one motor is pushing that plate forward), some screw holes were worn out and screws were just put into the holes for decoration (no one ever disassembled that before me that's their standard quality).- they sold and charged new cameras? I wonder why I did not see them, or did they just put in the same old shit camera as before.and they charged for their failure, I offered them to come to our place to fix it and see what they have delivered and they went silent.the point of a pick and place machine is if you don't have good feeders you don't have a good machine. And if the service of a commercial company fails like that the entire company is a scam; They could have fixed their issues any time if they wanted to.I have built my own machine with an accuracy of 10 microns in the meanwhile (including CNC milled 8mm efeeders), I pretty much know how those things work. Especially the range of machines where Mechatronica falls into. I would never buy a single head machine anymore, they just stress the mechanics of a machine unnecessarily; 4-8 heads is a minimum; 2 somewhat acceptable for small prototypes. Single head is hobbyist.----the feeder protocol is simple but you need to attach the poor quality feeder box to the main system and capture the protocol; I have no interest anymore of touching that rubbish thing (aside of that the machine is decommissioned in another country now; the software which I wrote for the Mechatronika back then I'm using for my custom machine now)I don't care if 90% of the slots work properly, if I shuffle the 10% plastic feeders around in the other slots the other slots of the other feeder boxes will fail -- completely (16 slots). Aside of that the setup takes too long.And that the customer needs to take care about the friction of the reels inside their feeder boxes, is nothing but a bad design (another customer oiled the feeder box reel holder... )they have no manual either which explains those things - company secrets - which they probably only tell you when you fly to their place to get taught about a single pick and place head machine (that's just too ridiculous).If you are seriously into PNP Mechatronika is just a joke on the market. Dariuz and Lezlaw are two retired owners (>64-70years old) who just got the lucky timing in their life.