Pick and place machine (the internet told me so!)

[NickPerry]

Might it be worth an investigation with linear encoders and possibly DIY linear motors?

I've considered for a while, the making of linear motors using a multi-layer PCB for the motor itself and a simple row of neodymium magnets along the plate.

Linear encoders with 0.244um resolution can be had over here for 'fuck all'

https://www.rls.si/rlb-linear-component-magnetic-encoder-system

I would probably just use a cheap pair of digital calipers (But for this project I'm thinking optical encoders.. but that's still up in the air.)

[nctnico]

OpenCV is not magic. A single frame can take seconds to process, and this happens at very low resolutions. At high resolution, it can easily go to minutes.

Maybe on a 386 @20 MHz but I've used OpenCV for demanding vision jobs with multiple operations on a modern ARM SoC and it did just fine.

[NickPerry]

nctnico: you may be scoffing, but don't forget many hobbyist do not have great computers, so making sure the software can run on older PC's is typically a good idea. (this is a problem a lot of game creators also run into)

that being said, I've never used OpenCV before, but it looks intriguing, and since so many people use it, I might use it as well (I like keeping my code accessible for everyone)

[BrianHG]

Someone else's DIY pick and place machine:

[BrianHG]

Some Open PNP machine with camera action selecting and placing components randomly scattered loose parts on a tray:

[Mechatrommer]

If you will be using stepper motors with your own driver, I recently done a project with this guy: A4985SLPTR-T
https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/allegro-microsystems-llc/A4985SLPTR-T/620-1344-1-ND/2237998
Handles all your micro-stepping, current limiting & adaptive drive power needs...

this is much cheaper with everything ready plug and play to arduino or whatever...
http://www.ebay.com.my/itm/A4988-Stepper-Motor-Driver-Module-StepStick-3D-Printer-Polulu-RAMPS-RepRap-/172229894670?hash=item2819b3a20e:g:6tEAAOSwOyJX4K7n

[CM800]

Might it be worth an investigation with linear encoders and possibly DIY linear motors?

I've considered for a while, the making of linear motors using a multi-layer PCB for the motor itself and a simple row of neodymium magnets along the plate.

Linear encoders with 0.244um resolution can be had over here for 'fuck all'

https://www.rls.si/rlb-linear-component-magnetic-encoder-system

I would probably just use a cheap pair of digital calipers (But for this project I'm thinking optical encoders.. but that's still up in the air.)

Well at £40 for an encoder, that's not a bad price... (Actually the best damned price in the market. I've used them, they work a treat.)

[free_electron]

what i am talking about is something like this


or


but : with a bit more intelligence.
on the left side you would have a tray with compartments. ( like a waffle with 1inx1in compartments)
you tell the machine A1 holds this part, a2 holds this part a3 holds this part.
you load the bom.


for strength : 8020 frames.
C1 is 100nf and found in tray a8
if it is time to place c1 , the machine moves to a8. you fine position and pick the part using a track pad (position) and a button (drop nozzle and turn on vacuum , lift nozzle.
the arm now moves back to last known position on the pcb. you now spin the part , position it and place it..

a video feed shows you camera and pick data.

all i want is a track pad / joystick to do x/y operations , a button to pick / release parts and a piece of code to move between the correct tray and the board.
left hand would do x/y operations, right hand would do pick and drop and rotation operations.

so you would need an x/t able , a vacuum needle on a stepper to rotate and a stepper for z motion.

the pick operation would be
- move to correct tray
- drop to slightly above part
- human positions needle and presses button.
- needle drops , vaccum on, lift needle move to last know board position , needle drops to slightly above board. if vacuum fails we go back to tray and redo operation
- human rotates part using rotary encoder and x/y positions. press button
- part is now gently placed.
two buttons now exist : next , or replace.  replace lifts part again and allows for x/y and rotation again.
if next is pressed : allow for x/y movement over board so human can select next placement position.
button press : go to tray to pick next part eetc

video overlay shows the camera and the current part to be picked and next 5 parts to be picked.

a 'skip' button allows you to skip (as in we wont place this part at all), a part a 'later' button allows you to put the current part at the end of the queue.

[CM800]

https://www.robotdigg.com/product/43/Nema8+Hollow+Shaft+Stepper+Motor

A hollow shaft NEMA 8 would be a great choice, this company even offers one with a nipple on the end for a tube to attach.

[Kjelt]

what i am talking about is something like this

Although I like the eurocircuits/Elektor solution it still has a major drawback that a lot of (semi) manual p&p's have: the cameravision is under an angle. In the video you can not even see how the soc8 is placed on the other side let alone place some major component.
The automated p&p solve this by having the camera mounted on a fixed x,y offset to the nozzle.
For a manual p&p two cameras should be mounted or perhaps better mount the camera under 90 degrees and the nozzle under a 45 degree angle below the camera. Anyway that needs to be solved.

[briandorey]

This video shows my DIY pick and place machine which uses second hand commercial feeders for the components.
There are more photos of the parts used on my blog at http://www.briandorey.com/post/DIY-Pick-and-Place-V2-Project-Complete and it uses the robotdigg hollow shaft steppers for the nozzles.

[BrianHG]

This will cheapen things up for the hollow shaft stepper motor:
https://www.banggood.com/39MM-Hollow-Shaft-Hybrid-Stepper-Motor-4-Phase-5-Wire-Square-1_8-Degrees-Stepper-Motor-p-978459.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc_elc&utm_campaign=ds-indu-mechanicalpart1&utm_content=george&gclid=Cj0KCQjwlMXMBRC1ARIsAKKGuwgzws_0tQhhn8Frx6dKfDq_P74_1cko9ht0g5VrQTaCxADqGUU76K4aAnBiEALw_wcB

[nctnico]

Coincidentally I spoke to someone from a rapid prototyping / small batch PCB assembly service. The guy explained they use some kind of semi-automatic pick and place machine which doesn't need feeders or endless programming but does help to place parts quickly.

[zeqing]

a pick-n-machine is intended to help users on placing the components, with lower cost and ensured quality; do not think a 200$ would be really helpful for a real project. i believe it would be even slow and worse quality than placing them by my hand...

[Kjelt]

Coincidentally I spoke to someone from a rapid prototyping / small batch PCB assembly service. The guy explained they use some kind of semi-automatic pick and place machine which doesn't need feeders or endless programming but does help to place parts quickly.

Well that is a major teaser 
Do you have manufacturer and product details or is it the known manual pick and place machine with rotating storage compartments ?

[nctnico]

Coincidentally I spoke to someone from a rapid prototyping / small batch PCB assembly service. The guy explained they use some kind of semi-automatic pick and place machine which doesn't need feeders or endless programming but does help to place parts quickly.

Well that is a major teaser 
Do you have manufacturer and product details or is it the known manual pick and place machine with rotating storage compartments ?

I didn't ask. I wanted to keep the conversation short due to my dinner getting cold. Maybe I'll pay them a visit. I usually visit the assemblers I'm using to see what their setup is like.

[free_electron]

Anyone know any good stepper controller ic's?  ( i'm not talking the bridge drivers, but the actual controllers that do the ramp and velocity control . and i don't want any arduino stuff or software algorithms : i need real ic's )
Essentially a chip where you tell it : go there. And the chip does the rampup, rampdown, velocity control, and corrects for any overshoot. Agilent had those HCTL1101 . or the TMC5130 . anyone know any others ?

[C]

Think ST has what you want.

[CM800]

For everyone's info, I worked out some prices for a linear motor, encoder & drive (would only require mechanics e.g. linear rails) comes to about £500 per axis. This could be brought down quite a bit with volume.

The price covers:
-Servo drive
-20N Linear motor (68mm long)
-210mm Linear magnet Rail
- 0.244 micron resolution magnetic encoder

gives 142mm of stroke, however if you add another linear magnet rail that bumps it to 352. (and the price up by like... £180)

Could make for a great PnP machine if you build it out of Aluminium rigidly, you could place all the way down to the tiny components.

Servo drives can take pulse direction input, or RS485 position / velocity commands, or even interpolated / cyclic sync position from CAN given by an Arduino Due or RPi

It's out of budget a good chunk... but an interesting idea.

[jmelson]

C1 is 100nf and found in tray a8
if it is time to place c1 , the machine moves to a8. you fine position and pick the part using a track pad (position) and a button (drop nozzle and turn on vacuum , lift nozzle.
the arm now moves back to last known position on the pcb. you now spin the part , position it and place it..

This is insane!  What you describe is a fully automated machine being run in manual mode.  WHY?  If you have the capability of running the machine under computer control, why not have it do the board totally automatically from CAD data?

Jon

[CM800]

C1 is 100nf and found in tray a8
if it is time to place c1 , the machine moves to a8. you fine position and pick the part using a track pad (position) and a button (drop nozzle and turn on vacuum , lift nozzle.
the arm now moves back to last known position on the pcb. you now spin the part , position it and place it..

This is insane!  What you describe is a fully automated machine being run in manual mode.  WHY?  If you have the capability of running the machine under computer control, why not have it do the board totally automatically from CAD data?

Jon

Likely because all of the parts that the person has a hand in (does manually) are the ones that take a lot of expensive programming, development & R&D costs.

[hlavac]

Here is a nice semi-automatic approach. It tells you what to do, and places a little guide for you to precisely put the part in. It even has a part flipper!

[RoGeorge]

Here is a nice semi-automatic approach. It tells you what to do, and places a little guide for you to precisely put the part in. It even has a part flipper!

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/SM-902-SMT-manipulator_105722634.html
$20K...30K really?

[CM800]

Here is a nice semi-automatic approach. It tells you what to do, and places a little guide for you to precisely put the part in. It even has a part flipper!

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/SM-902-SMT-manipulator_105722634.html
$20K...30K really?

I can see the benefit of such a unit if you specialise in custom single pieces day-in-day-out.

Should pay itself off reasonably well.

[KE5FX]

I can see the benefit of such a unit if you specialise in custom single pieces day-in-day-out.

Should pay itself off reasonably well.

I don't get it.     They've done all the hard stuff.  Why not add the necessary camera(s) and linear motors to automate the process?