[dandumit]

Congratulations ! - could you please post some close up's ?
I can't see your cognex vision in action.
Did you managed to rotate the part partially ? You said some time ago that machine it's able to rotate it only at 90 degrees.

[alphatroniqu]

Hi Dandumit

the cognex vision system was not yet enabled in software
and camera was not mounted on my "test" machine
i will test it when will upgraded to new software/hardware my production machine

as today i still use original machine rotation so it limited to -90 ,0 +90 deg
but servo rotation was working ,still need to calibrate it before enable it on software

more video will come for sure ,that fist video was made 1hour after i got last firmware update so i quite basic ;-) firmware guy will send me new update in couple of day that fix some head timing issue i found during test

this was test file i used for placement test ,i chose text based file instead of original binary format of zevatech for easy hacking ;-)

FEEDER:L2-6:8mm:C104A:1.40:413.80:0:0
PART:L2-6:C104A:0:70.00:210.00
PART:L2-6:C104A:0:70.00:215.00
PART:L2-6:C104A:0:70.00:220.00
PART:L2-6:C104A:0:70.00:225.00
PART:L2-6:C104A:0:70.00:230.00
PART:L2-6:C104A:0:70.00:235.00


Best regard

[dandumit]

Nice ! Please keep us posted ! Where do you post more often here or on Adafruit ?

Regarding placement files, it's there any standard for them ? I plan to build myself too such a thing and I have no clue about this.

[alphatroniqu]

HI

normally on adafruit sine in not want to hijack eclipse tread ,but i go were it have interest to ...

seem that every pick place have it own file format for storing placement data
and near every time in obscure non documented format ( it sold off-line programing tools and support after all $$$)

so on my side i chose to make it in plain ASCII file so it easy to hand edit
or integrated into third party tool or wly not reuse by other person project ..

same apply for modbus protocol as soon it will complete and documented i will release it

Best regard

[alphatroniqu]

Hi

that new video that show Close view to Head / Feeder / PCB

and also show PC side GUI and DEbog screen (communication)

i now got speed of 1000 CPH whit 330mm / second travel speed
i may increase placement speed by 300ms/part whit better handle of modbus layer

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOtb3EI0DEg"]YouTube - Zecatech 360 / 460 controller Test 2[/nomedia]

Best regard

[alphatroniqu]

Detail of GUI operation

from cad system to production in <3 minute
whit PCB panelization in machine software whit PCB preview :cheers:

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VNK7XBh_ls"]YouTube - Zevatech Controller GUI Operation[/nomedia]

Best regard

[Eclipze]

Oh WOW... that controller software looks like it's coming along very nicely!

[guru_florida]

Eclipze, I know you are planning on using mach3, have you ever considered EMC2? I am just starting my PnP machine design, but I've already made my own CNC machine and I use EMC2 to control it.

EMC2 is *really* programmable/extensible. The config files instantiate various emc modules and wire them together. In my case, I am going to wire the core motion control modules to my own PnP control module, the gcode interpreter will not be used - so there'll be no gcode involved in my design. My custom PnP control module will receive the PnP commands and then translate to the other emc2 modules. I wont have to get into motion control problems/algorithms at all. I think this is a much simpler solution. I think that translating stuff to gcode will mean the machine cannot dynamically react to sensor data - the gcode is fixed. You could use some M codes to react to sensor data but overall you may find yourself in a corner at some point.

I'll release my custom module when I get around to making and testing it. I really need a PnP machine *now* so I'll be cutting any corner I can to get *something* to work...anything!

Gecko 540 was a nice choice. I am going with that for mine as well. I love the G230's I have on my CNC machine. I had the L298 crap at first, junked that.

[guru_florida]

Eclipze, can you tell me more about how you (I guess your friend) drilled out the middle of the stepper motor? I would think this would be a really tough job to do right. I'm going to attempt it so anything you can tell me would help - ruining a good stepper would be bad!

[rgee]

hi guys
just coming to the end of a job had to load 30 boards with 98 smd parts
so i converted my old engraver to do the job, i have made a gcode post processor that takes a protel file if any body is interested i will post when i have cleaned it up a bit. i agree that it would be nice to have interaction between machine and placement data but that is just one way. i am using mach to run my machine as it is what i have.
machine basic info
old A0 pen plotter
the table is 1mm sheet galuv and is feed back and forth with the paper feed
the z axis was an OLD hard drive
the A axis was made from stepper motor out of old scanner
the nozzel was made from K&S brass tube square, one slides inside the other with a spring for pick/place override
the vacuum is made by a compressed air ejector and turned on and off
with the spindle command
the tape is advanced by placing the nozzle into the pocket and dragging it forward then going back and picking part
some parts are picked from a tray no moving of the tape
a small piece of silicone tube is placed over end of nozzle
to pick the bigger parts
alignment of board and other tasks is performed with a web cam
Peter R

[RomanLini]

Very cool! Please post more photos.

[neilw20]

Steel base!! Most convenient for holding things in place by magnets.
An elegant solution to dragging feeders across the table too.
Simplicity wins, hands down!!(wedge)

[guru_florida]

Yes more photos!

[phomann]

hi guys
just coming to the end of a job had to load 30 boards with 98 smd parts
so i converted my old engraver to do the job, i have made a gcode post processor that takes a protel file if any body is interested i will post when i have cleaned it up a bit. i agree that it would be nice to have interaction between machine and placement data but that is just one way. i am using mach to run my machine as it is what i have.

Peter R

Hi Peter,

I'm very interested in your pot processor. I have a soldering robot that I want to drive via Mach3 from Protel files, as well as set up a Midi Router for paste dispensing.

Cheers,

Peter

[rgee]

hi all
regarding photos when i ave finished the job i will take machine apart and take more, i still have the throu hole to do yet and six boards to load to day.
machine was taking 20min to load a board, i have found that i can override the feed by 20% and i had a .3 second vac delay reduced that to .1 that saved just over a minuet so i guess it now is about 15 min per board. this job was made available to me 6 weeks ago so this has been very rapid pro typing and that is why it is a bit rough. my day job is running a Japanese mad PNP for a contract assembler so i have plenty opportunity to dream up ideas on how to not spend $500 000, same job at work would load in about 1min if that. now i know what the other $499 000 are for!
regarding a post for a soldering machine i think your best bet would be to place a pad on an unused layer for every place you want to apply solder,
then output a gerber file of that layer. then all you have to add is the dwell time, approach angle, solder feed, ECT , sounds easy really. gerber file is just a text file full of coordinates. My post has been created in Visual basic 2008 express this is a free download. I am not a programmer, of all the things i do this would be the hardest for me, could not do it with out Google.
here is a little tease, this is the start of the gcode file and the first placement.

(Posted by OsPnP by P.J.R v1.0)
(4/24/2011 11:41:25 AM)
G0 G49 G40.1 G17 G80 G50 G98 G21
G0 Z14
A0
M06
(align fiducial)
G1 X90 Y106 F3600
M06
G0 X80.13 Y-18.23
M06 ( zero machine )
(Placement Number 1)
(Comp ID C4 100N X-75.79 Y158.32)
G1 X-75.79 Y158.32 F3600 (move to pick pos)
G1 Z-0.97 F1000
G1 Y154 F600 (move tape)
G1 Z7 F1000
G1 X-75.79 Y158.32 F3600 (move to pick pos)
G1 Z-0.5 F1000
M03
G4 P.3
G1 Z7 F1000
G1 A90 F30000
G1 X40.704 Y34.754 F3600 (move to place pos)
G1 Z-3.93 F1000
M05
G4 P.3
G1 Z7 F1000
G1 A0 F30000
(------------------------------------)
(Placement Number 2)


photos aligning the fiducial
post processor screen shot
closeup of nozzle
machine head

by for now
peter r

[Khalid]

Someone is really working very cheap and cleverly.. I like the machine and the camera centreing module and software... When a person has no means to purchase expensive equipment then innovation comes.
Thanks for sharing the machine and pictures. I will be happy if you post a video.

[Eclipze]

guru_florida... I believe my friend put the motor core in a lathe and used a rifle drill. Rather precise. But the first one I did myself, which was almost successful. I used a normal drill press and cutting fluid. I got most of the way through, but was something like 6mm short on drill length. So I drill from the opposite end. But when the drill hole matched up, the drill bit snapped. What I should have done is got a longer drill to bore the hole from one side in a complete pass. Getting spot on accuracy isn't necessary, so using a drill press and accepting a bit of drill wonder isn't really a big problem.

I haven't seriously looked at EMC2. I'm not keen to setup another PC, or to have a dual boot. I have been wondering if mach3 can be feed gcode from another application, to run scripts of gcodes. But ultimately, I haven't got a good solution for the software side as yet, but I also haven't spent much time looking into it.

[phomann]

regarding a post for a soldering machine i think your best bet would be to place a pad on an unused layer for every place you want to apply solder,
then output a gerber file of that layer. then all you have to add is the dwell time, approach angle, solder feed, ECT , sounds easy really. gerber file is just a text file full of coordinates. My post has been created in Visual basic 2008 express this is a free download. I am not a programmer, of all the things i do this would be the hardest for me, could not do it with out Google.
here is a little tease, this is the start of the gcode file and the first placement.


by for now
peter r

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the reply. My plan is to use the Protel P&P file, using the x,y,theta data along with the footpad id. In Mach3 I'll have a macro for each of the Footpads that will be called.

For instance there will be a macro for a 0805, SIOC8, SIOC14 etc. The GCode will call the macro with the X,Y,theta position. The macro will then do the paste dispensing for the pads within the component.

Cheers,

Peter.

[Eclipze]

I like the approach with the macros. That's how I've been looking at the PNP driving. Using a script to translate the X, Y, theta to gcode moves, which macro calls inbetween. The macros will handle the pickup, tape feed, component bump align if needed, component placement, nozzle change etc... Selecting the banks to load from and the required macros calls needs a database.. But for soldering and paste dispension, I think it's a good approach.

[phomann]

Yes, I've though about it for a bit. I expect that there will be lower level macros for dispensing the dot. I plan to have a number of macros for different dot sizes. Each of these macros will reference a user DRO (register) that will contain the solenoid open duration to set the dot size. With a new SMT setup page that will allow me to adjust the various parameters.

The dot size registers will be a multiplication of the minimum dot size timing register. That way I can use this base register to adjust the whole timing system to cater for variations in paste viscosity.

Cheers,

Peter.