Hardware porn - Fujitsu mainboard manufacturing tour, Augsburg, Germany

[maverickbna]

Not sure what board to post this to, but I found a really cool video, showing the manufacture of mainboards for Fujitsu, including all the soldering, pick and place, etc.

Wow, I didn't realize pick and place machines were so fast!

https://youtu.be/ylk6VMBLrvM

[jmelson]

Not sure what board to post this to, but I found a really cool video, showing the manufacture of mainboards for Fujitsu, including all the soldering, pick and place, etc.

Wow, I didn't realize pick and place machines were so fast!

These are the EXTREME high-end machines, for production of very complicated boards.

Jon

[mc172]

I have never seen anything like that through-hole placement machine before. It's nuts!

[mikeselectricstuff]

It's a shame that such high end gears are used to manufacture mobos without 100% solid state capacitors and 100% molded shielded inductors.
Even cheap $50 bottom of the line Asus mobos 10 years ago have all solid state caps and all molded shielded chokes, at least for VRM.

That video is 8 years old.

[tooki]

I have never seen anything like that through-hole placement machine before. It's nuts!

THT component placement machines have been around for something like 50 years. (That’s why components have come bandoliered for so long!!)

Take a look at this beautiful video from 1974, which shows (at 2:55) what by then are mature automatic placement machines (among other automation). Not as fast as what came later of course. It’s neat how you’d have mixed components bandoliered in assembly order. 



Another video I remember that shows early automatic insertion machines is this 1983 video. It shows the custom component bandoliering at 2:13, automatic insertion at 3:13, and automatic adjustment and testing at 4:07.





Finally, this 1955 film about factory automation gives you an idea of just how far along we were by the 1950s — I think it’s quite a bit more automated than many people realize.

[mikeselectricstuff]

Finally, this 1955 film about factory automation gives you an idea of just how far along we were by the 1950s — I think it’s quite a bit more automated than many people realize.

And from 1947 - way ahead of its time, probably a little too far

[tooki]

Ohhh yeah, I remember seeing that video a while back! Basically giant hybrid modules!