Open source pick and place

[tomgat]

For anyone looking for a very low cost OpenPNP alternative to NeoDen and Charmhigh machines, they might want to check out microsmt company. It looks like Aliexpress is selling it for $850 w/ free shipping.  Also, their youtube video seems pretty speedy.  Might be a great hobby machine.  Has anyone bought this machine and have any comments on it?

https://www.microsmt.com.cn

[NorthGuy]

Maybe there is misunderstanding with my super broken english... i have in mind to build my own pnp, but what i have in mind is cameras and arduino pnp board will connect directly to PC. this will make many USB connections to PC which is less ideal esp when PC has less USB ports..

That's what USB hub does - takes several USB connections and turns it into one. So you have multiple USB devices in your machine, but only one USB cable to PC.

[doppelgrau]

Has anyone bought this machine and have any comments on it?

Having a (modified) liteplacer I would say that the machine is too small for most applications. Very limited table space for parts and PCBs.
So I'd say nice for learning, but not very usable even for prototype jobs.

[jmelson]

Having a (modified) liteplacer I would say that the machine is too small for most applications. Very limited table space for parts and PCBs.
So I'd say nice for learning, but not very usable even for prototype jobs.

Yes, I recently did a board that required 28 different parts for the top side, and quite a number of those were wider than 8mm tape.  I had to use both front and back side feeder rails.  I didn't max out my machine, but it did take up a lot of the available feeder space.
Jon

[Fire Doger]

Definitely an order of magnitude better than Oppo.
I have been looking it around a year since it appeared on AliExpress. You can easily increase it's length by replacing y axis profiles.
Also it doesn't have 3D printed parts that will derate over time. In comparison to Neoden and Charmhight the downside is that it' doesn't come with a feeder mechanism out of the box, but with the amount of money that you saved you can buy some.
It looks like there is a nice feeder been developed in USA https://www.deltaprintr.com/docs/rapid-feeders/
And these Chinese looks well thought https://www.openpnp.cn/archives/3030?lang=en but I don't know if you can source them outside of China easily.

[tomgat]

And these Chinese looks well thought https://www.openpnp.cn/archives/3030?lang=en but I don't know if you can source them outside of China easily.

Damn... Those are probably the most professional low cost feeders I have seen yet.  I cant get his buy link to work, so I guess your right that its china only at the moment. 

[asmi]

One thing I've learnt over all my years in business is "DIY is only cheap when your time (and/or that of your employees) is worthless". So doing it for business always ends up costing more in the long run than just spending money on a commercial system. There's a reason they cost so much and yet are still in business.
So if you want to DIY for hobby, when unexpected issue doesn't mean angry (possibly ex-)customers and risks of litigation - go for it, and enjoy the process, but think twice before doing it commercially.

[lutkeveld]

Damn... Those are probably the most professional low cost feeders I have seen yet.  I cant get his buy link to work, so I guess your right that its china only at the moment. 

You can import them via an agent like Superbuy. I have the feeders and the controller laying at home for use with the LumenPnP machine, but have not had time to try them yet. They look pretty decent, but I have tried contacting the maker and the support seems to be lacking a bit.