redFrog Pick and Place Machine - Priced for the Hobbyist and Totally Hackable

BuildYourCNC's very own Pick and Place Machine offered to the public. This is the pick and place machine we use in-house to assemble our electronic products. The redFrog (our name for the pick and place machine) is a machine that picks-up very small components (SMD - Surface Mount Devices) and places them on the PCB (Printed Circuit Boards). If you're still wondering what these machines do, please have a look at the video below showing the complete assembly process starting from applying the solder paste, pick and place and finally sintering (reflowing) the board to fuse the parts to the board. This machine is constantly in development and features will be updated as further development and revisions happen.

The features of the redFrog pick and place machine include the the suction responsible for the picking functionality, 3 axis motion and control, reel and tape holder, gravity pulled tape cover and internal computer. The suction for picking the components is created using a vacuum pump (3 CFM) and tank combination (vacuum shown may not be the one provided in the system). The computer being housed internally enables the user to locate the machine more conveniently (only a keyboard, mouse and monitor is plugged into the machine. The motion control is provided by stepping motors for all axes and the part rotation and is powered by drivers capable of 3.0 amps. A good base is still in development, so the current machines will need a base/table 21-1/2" x 20-1/2" (546.1mm x 520.7mm). The carcass shown in the video is not included as it really is not the most elegant solution for this system.

The vacuum pump is controlled by a circuit designed by us to keep the price down (similar circuits used in industrial applications carry a very high price due to their specialization. This circuit keeps a range of suction in the tank at all times so the picking can be at its best performance. The range of suction is controlled by two potentiometers (components that can be adjusted like a dial on a stereo) to maintain a high and low vacuum and only run the vacuum when the tank needs to be . This vacuum is shown in inches of mercury. The higher the inches of mercurg (Hg), the higher the vacuum. There will be updated features that will be available from time to time so keep an eye on this page.

Important Shipping Note: Due to the size of this kit, the shipping will need to be arranged with the buyer and the buyer is responsible for all shipping and handling charges. The weight of the fully assembled package is 160 lbs and will be contained in one package. If the kit, without the assembly fee, is purchased, the shipment will be in 2 packages: structure and hardware/electroincs. We will contact the buyer after the purchase is made to discuss shipping charges and arrangements.

Assembly Instructions:

This pick and place project is recommended for advanced users. The assembly requires understanding mechanical principles, connecting computer components and installing the operating system, solding connections, connecting pneumatic equipment and working with mains voltage (120/240v). If you have any reservations on your abilities to complete this project, take a look at the assembly videos, which will give you a good idea on the difficulty level of this project.

The following information is kept on this page for historical reasons)

A few points of update: the software used for all ofthge pick and place is EMC2 running under Ubuntu Linux. The control language is g-code and almost every feature of this language was used to make the final control easy to use. Three main sub g-code programs have ben created. The main g-code subroutine contains all of the camera offset, feed specifications, rotation compensation and the levels of various places on the machine. The tape and banks are held in another file that defines their x and y part locations for picking. The final subroutine takes care of tool changes (vacuum cup changes). The main file that users will have the most interaction with is a file that contains all of the place locations, orientaion specs and choice of tape from which to pick that part. There were many days of exhaustive programming (many frustrating moments) in g-code to make sure the end user would have as little to enter as possible. I took advantage of using variables with meaningful names, global variables, subs and calls, and conditional statements in g-code. All of this functionality can be used with mach3; however, I have not found a good webcam program that includes crosshairs. Camview in Ubuntu works well in this case.

An example line looks like this:

Specifically, this is:

• [.062] Tape cavity length
• [1] How many positions to feed (sprocket holes... 1, 2, 3 etc..)
• [#<_x-b1-r1-8>] X-bank and reel to get the part and the mm tape width
• [#<_y-b1-r1-8>] Y-bank and reel
• [0] A y-offset if needed to be able to get a perfect pick on the part
• [90] Orientation of the pick
• [1.5432] X place location
• [2.5234] Y place location
• [135] Place orientation
• [.02] Part thickness

The processes to fill add lines:

• Making sure the machine is homed at the correct location, move the machine to the correct place location (crosshairs centered at the component location).
• Add a new line with place location, bank and reel, part thickness, part cavity length and orientations (example above).
• Do a dry run to determine if the correct placement and pick was done. If the place is off, then the place x and y would be nudged. I generally nudge it .01" in either direction to get it perfect.

The initial configuration, camera offsets and bank and reel definitions are that most difficult part of the process, but it is a one time activity. Thereafter, the definitions file, offsets and compensations can be tweaked from time to time to make the picking and placing more accurate over an initial "getting to know" period.

Main Information:

Here is a pick and place machine for moving SMD (Surface Mount Device) components from reels or waffles to PCB (Printed Circuit Board). The machine is relatively small in size with rapid movement. This pick and place machine is aimed at the cottage industry and garage DIYers and will carry a very low price.

Stages complete:

• Overall 3 axes movement, structure and mechanics
• Method for reel tape alignment and positioning (scrapped first method, see video).
• Clamping and positioning of PCBs
• Software (EMC2 with hand written g-code). I will provide a tutorial on this. It's really easy... I promise.
• Vacuum selection (inexpensive and quiet).
• Procurement of tube fittings and silicone tubing.
• Pneumatics (not for movement, but for suction) and installation.
• Testing

Stages to complete:

• Assembly videos footage edited and posted
• Offer various options on the website

Old prototype photos:

Here are some sneak peek photos of the upcoming pick and place machine called the redFrog.