Author Topic: PCBGRIP: Making it easier to assemble electronics.  (Read 30941 times)

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Offline PCBGRIPTopic starter

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PCBGRIP: Making it easier to assemble electronics.
« on: January 07, 2014, 03:32:12 am »
I was only born with two hands, so when it comes time to assemble my electronics project, there are more things to hold and turn than I have hands.   I wanted a quality tool that would hold the PCB and components, even holding through hole components upside down while I solder.  The tool had to allow me to get at the work from all angles and be flexible enough to use for all my projects, as opposed to a dedicated jig specific to one project.

Not finding what I wanted, I designed and built PCBGRIP, an electronics assembly system that makes it easier to assemble electronics.  I just launched a Kickstarter campaign to crowd fund PCBGRIP.  The Kickstarter campaign can be found here:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2065435222/pcbgrip-electronics-assembly-system

Some more pictures of PCBGRIP can be found on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/pcbgrip/

Your support is appreciated.
Jason


« Last Edit: January 07, 2014, 03:35:12 am by PCBGRIP »
 

Offline free_electron

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Re: PCBGRIP: Making it easier to assemble electronics.
« Reply #1 on: January 07, 2014, 03:05:04 pm »
I would like to see probe golders for this thing.
So i can position oscilloscope probes and have the grip hold them in position for me.
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Offline dr.diesel

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Re: PCBGRIP: Making it easier to assemble electronics.
« Reply #2 on: January 07, 2014, 03:32:26 pm »
That actually look pretty handy.  If I didn't have 10 tons of shit on my bench already I'd order.

Offline PCBGRIPTopic starter

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Re: PCBGRIP: Making it easier to assemble electronics.
« Reply #3 on: January 07, 2014, 04:09:17 pm »
That's the idea - being able to easily do things to make it easier to assembly/work on electronics!

You could make a part that attaches to the end of a 3mm rod and put the probe exactly where you want it.   I'll design one to show you what I mean,  3D print it,  and then post a picture of it holding the probe of my Rigol scope. Give me a day or so.


Thanks
Jason
 

Offline dr.diesel

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Re: PCBGRIP: Making it easier to assemble electronics.
« Reply #4 on: January 07, 2014, 04:13:00 pm »
Damnit, if you go off and do that I'm gonna have to buy one.

Offline c4757p

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Re: PCBGRIP: Making it easier to assemble electronics.
« Reply #5 on: January 07, 2014, 04:17:24 pm »
I think we've had seventy dozen people post some stupid Kickstarter holder thing - I seem to remember one for Arduino and one with a breadboard and some other stuff - and I've gotten rather used to them being complete shit. But this looks quite nice! I want one.
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Offline liquibyte

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Re: PCBGRIP: Making it easier to assemble electronics.
« Reply #6 on: January 07, 2014, 04:24:32 pm »
I think we've had seventy dozen people post some stupid Kickstarter holder thing - I seem to remember one for Arduino and one with a breadboard and some other stuff - and I've gotten rather used to them being complete shit. But this looks quite nice! I want one.
I was thinking the same thing.  I've been thinking about trying to cobble together something like this out of sheet metal parts I have laying around.  I just wish there were alternatives for alligator clips off the shelf.  They either seem to grip too hard or not hard enough depending on what I need to do.

I have a feeling this is going to make the Panavice pricing look cheap in comparison though.
« Last Edit: January 07, 2014, 04:26:35 pm by liquibyte »
 

Offline Spikee

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Re: PCBGRIP: Making it easier to assemble electronics.
« Reply #7 on: January 07, 2014, 06:50:44 pm »
this product looks awesome but the shipping rates are quite high.
Freelance electronics design service, Small batch assembly, Firmware / WEB / APP development. In Shenzhen China
 

Offline CanadianAvenger

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Re: PCBGRIP: Making it easier to assemble electronics.
« Reply #8 on: January 07, 2014, 11:31:27 pm »
This the first one in a while that I've seen that I like!  My first thought was "Oh god, another useless PCB holder", and in the end I ended up backing it.  You can save on shipping with me too, as I'm in Toronto as well, I'll happily come by to pick mine up when they're ready. :)
 

Offline pickle9000

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Re: PCBGRIP: Making it easier to assemble electronics.
« Reply #9 on: January 07, 2014, 11:53:45 pm »
Who wants to make a bet that robrenz will make a better one?
 

Online mikeselectricstuff

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Re: PCBGRIP: Making it easier to assemble electronics.
« Reply #10 on: January 08, 2014, 12:15:02 am »
Some issues :
To change the spacing of the 2 bars for different PCB widths looks very fiddly -  need to unscrew the corner plates. A spring-loaded or thumbwheel-clamped slide mechanism would be much quicker & more convenient.
 
To allow clearance for flipping over, the boards has to be held too high off the bench to be conveniently worked on - the stand doesn't look sturdy enough to be able to rest your hands on. 
What you want is a one-touch up/twist/down action so the PCB resting position is closer to the bench.

Why would you want to hold parts on a PCB like this  anyway? It's easy enough to hold the PCB, part and solder with one hand and solder (at least enough to tack parts down) with the other.

The only time I've ever wanted to hold parts down is when there are lots of them, for which this stand wouldn't work anyway.

Holding probes on? Just solder a wire and clip to it.

There may be the odd niche job for which this is useful, but for general work I just can't see it being worth it. 


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Lurch

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Re: PCBGRIP: Making it easier to assemble electronics.
« Reply #11 on: January 08, 2014, 01:03:55 am »
Some issues :
To change the spacing of the 2 bars for different PCB widths looks very fiddly -  need to unscrew the corner plates. A spring-loaded or thumbwheel-clamped slide mechanism would be much quicker & more convenient.
 
To allow clearance for flipping over, the boards has to be held too high off the bench to be conveniently worked on - the stand doesn't look sturdy enough to be able to rest your hands on. 
What you want is a one-touch up/twist/down action so the PCB resting position is closer to the bench.

Basically what you're saying is make it like these. http://uk.farnell.com/4681745
 

Online mikeselectricstuff

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Re: PCBGRIP: Making it easier to assemble electronics.
« Reply #12 on: January 08, 2014, 01:22:54 am »
Some issues :
To change the spacing of the 2 bars for different PCB widths looks very fiddly -  need to unscrew the corner plates. A spring-loaded or thumbwheel-clamped slide mechanism would be much quicker & more convenient.
 
To allow clearance for flipping over, the boards has to be held too high off the bench to be conveniently worked on - the stand doesn't look sturdy enough to be able to rest your hands on. 
What you want is a one-touch up/twist/down action so the PCB resting position is closer to the bench.

Basically what you're saying is make it like these. http://uk.farnell.com/4681745
Thats's a slightly different beast, but in terms of the flip-over, yes. I'm sure you could come up with a bracket that had a single button to release both rotation and vertical grip
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Offline Stonent

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Re: PCBGRIP: Making it easier to assemble electronics.
« Reply #13 on: January 08, 2014, 02:19:22 am »
It's like a set of Tinker Toys mated with a pile of Bosch Rexroth framing material.  ;D
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Offline all_repair

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Re: PCBGRIP: Making it easier to assemble electronics.
« Reply #14 on: January 08, 2014, 02:39:39 am »
Other people may find a use.  To me too complicated, I do like jig.  Do not look easy to use, and already quite a challenge to know what should be bought.  Maybe some application video can help.  Hint:  looking for justifications to get another toy.
 

Offline PCBGRIPTopic starter

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Re: PCBGRIP: Making it easier to assemble electronics.
« Reply #15 on: January 08, 2014, 05:12:44 am »
free_electron:  See the picture below.  I designed and printed these tonight.  Honestly, I had not thought about probe holders before you brought it up.  This is a great real time example of how flexible and customizable PCBGRIP is.  Not only does it hold PCBs, but it will hold whatever else you want it to hold to help you with your electronics project.

For those who are interested in the 3D model of the clamp, I have uploaded it here:
https://grabcad.com/library/pcbgrip-oscilloscope-clamp-1#

« Last Edit: January 08, 2014, 01:22:55 pm by PCBGRIP »
 

Lurch

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Re: PCBGRIP: Making it easier to assemble electronics.
« Reply #16 on: January 08, 2014, 05:48:22 am »
Thats's a slightly different beast, but in terms of the flip-over, yes. I'm sure you could come up with a bracket that had a single button to release both rotation and vertical grip

I use 3 or 4 of these in various sizes and they are simple and quick. For production runs they are simple to adjust for the first run and then subsequent boards are just clipped in and out of the frame, takes seconds. The flip movement isn't locked, it just rests in a slot at the bottom.

The PCBGRIP I would probably put in the R&D lab type thing rather than for production. Far too many sticky out bits and faffing for speed of use.

I designed and printed these tonight.  Honestly, I had not thought about probe holders before you brought it up.  This is a great real time example of how flexible and customizable PCBGRIP is.  Not only does it hold PCBs, but I will hold whatever else you want it to hold to help you with your electronics project.

Now that looks useful, and hopefully safer than the solder-a-bit-of-wire-on-a-pin-and-hope-nothing-moves method.
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: PCBGRIP: Making it easier to assemble electronics.
« Reply #17 on: January 08, 2014, 06:58:42 am »
I couldn't help myself, it just looked too sexy. Backed.
 

Offline Legit-Design

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Re: PCBGRIP: Making it easier to assemble electronics.
« Reply #18 on: January 08, 2014, 07:22:34 am »
I couldn't help myself, it just looked too sexy. Backed.

Would love to see you review this one. Maybe they can send you prototype for testing? 100K subscribers should give the campaign nice boost (if it's what they promise it is). I don't think they could find better advertising than sending you one for testing?
 

Offline pickle9000

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Re: PCBGRIP: Making it easier to assemble electronics.
« Reply #19 on: January 08, 2014, 08:01:26 am »
That's a very good idea but could it happen before the funding ends?
 

Online mikeselectricstuff

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Re: PCBGRIP: Making it easier to assemble electronics.
« Reply #20 on: January 08, 2014, 10:44:14 am »
Thats's a slightly different beast, but in terms of the flip-over, yes. I'm sure you could come up with a bracket that had a single button to release both rotation and vertical grip

I use 3 or 4 of these in various sizes and they are simple and quick. For production runs they are simple to adjust for the first run and then subsequent boards are just clipped in and out of the frame, takes seconds. The flip movement isn't locked, it just rests in a slot at the bottom.
I have a couple of different sized ones of these - I find the foam often doesn't work very well though, and parts often don't sit flat on the PCB - I think it needs something like a diced foam to prevent lateral pulling
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Offline alank2

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Re: PCBGRIP: Making it easier to assemble electronics.
« Reply #21 on: January 08, 2014, 01:46:45 pm »
How safe are kickstarter projects?  If you put your money in do you get the project or your money back?  I'm interested in this, but don't know a lot about kickstarter...
 

Offline SeanB

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Re: PCBGRIP: Making it easier to assemble electronics.
« Reply #22 on: January 08, 2014, 03:04:52 pm »
About as safe as any other VC idea. You pay money if it reaches the target, then you hope that it works out and you get delivery. VC on a small scale, not megabucks ( That is why Dave chose it to use) and you are trusting that the project will work. About as safe as anything from the internet.
 

Offline PCBGRIPTopic starter

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Re: PCBGRIP: Making it easier to assemble electronics.
« Reply #23 on: January 09, 2014, 12:34:06 am »
Quote
Would love to see you review this one. Maybe they can send you prototype for testing? 100K subscribers should give the campaign nice boost (if it's what they promise it is). I don't think they could find better advertising than sending you one for testing?

I'd love for Dave to review this too - one thing we know is that there would be no ambiguity about how he feels! Unfortunately, I don't have enough parts to keep a full set and send a set to Dave.  I don't want to send the only parts I have to Dave and keep none, espically while the Kickstater campaign is live.  Having one off prototypes machined/anodized/engraved is VERY expensive.  Having an independent 3rd party have a look at PCBGRIP is actually a reasonable request and something that I am open to.  So, if there is someone here on the forum that lives in Toronto area and would like to meet up to have a look at PCBGRIP, I am all for it.  PM me if you are are interested. 

Quote
How safe are kickstarter projects?  If you put your money in do you get the project or your money back?  I'm interested in this, but don't know a lot about kickstarter...

Basically you pledge an amount, if the project is successful (ie raises CAD$40,000 in my case), your credit card is charged.  If the project doesn't raise CAD$40,000, your credit card is not charged.  Assuming the project is successful, your risk then becomes (i) I deliver; and (ii) the product works.  For the later, hopefully the videos, pictures, and offer above provides a reasonable level of comfort.  As for me delivering - have a look at my bio on Kickstarter to get a very brief overview of my background.  If you still have concerns, PM me and I will provide you my phone number and we can talk.  Not a problem.  I've backed 4 projects on Kickstarter myself.  So far my worse experience has been poor communication and late delivery.  While not life threatening, something that won't happen on this project.
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: PCBGRIP: Making it easier to assemble electronics.
« Reply #24 on: January 09, 2014, 12:52:07 am »
How safe are kickstarter projects?  If you put your money in do you get the project or your money back?

No, there is no legal obligation what so ever for the creator to give you your money back, or deliver the goods promised. Short of a class action lawsuit or something like that.
With these crowd finding websites, you are effectively just "donating" money to the project, with a promise that you might get something in return.
 


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