Open Capitalist

As a subset of the Electronic Manufacturing line the main function is controlling the pick and place machine.  The software is pretty far along but still needs some polishing.  Here are the main functions:

The main input is the BOM generated by the layout software.  Currently it is only set up for Cadence Allegro, but this is relatively trivial to provide additional formats.  I am committed to providing support for any file system required.  This is easy to adapt and our main target market doesn't use Allegro.

This BOM has every component that is part of the design as well as the associated XY coordinates.  This info is loaded into a spreadsheet that allows for selecting which parts get stuffed and a location of where to pick the part from.

The panel section of the interface allows for the layout and locations of blank PCBs.  This allows for panelization of the PCBs, or stuffing one at a time.

There is a tray section that takes care of components that are delivered in trays.

There are some other features: machine calibration, firmware updates, configuration, inventory controls, etc. that are rather boring and won't be covered here.

Now the disclaimers.  All the source code will be made available, however it has been designed in NI LabWindows.  I have purposely used as little NI function calls as possible, but as it stands it can only be compiled in LabWindows.  The reason I did it in LabWindows is because it is the IDE that I am comfortable with.  The only real functions I am using from it though is the user interface.  As this project grows my bet is someone would be willing to design a new interface for this.(please)

Edit: Attached are some screen shots the text below references numbers on the screen shots.

Pick and Place screenshot 1:

This screen shot shows the pick and place software main screen.  The descriptions are:

1. This software accepts the component file generated by the users design software.  I still only have it set up for Cadence Allegro, but it is a trivial matter to make that compatible with other design software (Eagle.)  This would be accomplished by the drop down on the right of "import file" or by auto detecting file extension.  The spreadsheet below the file selection is the components read from the input file.  It doesn't have much function other than a way to double check that the input file is correct.

2. Lists all parts that are used in the design.  It allows the user to select an action for a detected failure, whether the part is "no stuff", component source which is either feeder or tray, and the location of either the feeder or the section of the tray that the part will be picked from.

3. debug window which provides information of the raw data which is sent and read from the motor controller.

4. Provides the offsets for panelized, or parallel board stuffing.  If the user is stuffing 20 boards at once, this is where the X/Y offsets would be calculated.

5. Tray set up.  This section is for defining the layout of how the trays are laid out for the components which are picked from trays.  It will save this info assuming that the user will most likely have partial trays and wouldn't want to reenter the location.

6. Run control.  In addition to start/stop and top/bottom, there is the ability to decide placement flow. This might be useful for multi-step placement operations.  The main function though is to allow a single a single step mode in order to verify correct part placement.

7. The connect button just establishes the link to the desired motor control.  The Machine Setup button opens the next screen.

Screenshot 2:

The Machine setup screen:

1. Provides an area for entering steps per inch(cm).

2. Provides the location where the suction head will go when changing tools.

3. Provides the absolute max travel range for XYZR.

4. Distance to compensate for backlash compensation.

5. For each axis the lower level motor functions are available for programming.  Row 1: percent of full current which should be used during normal operation.  Row 2: Hold current, the level of current required when axis isn't moving.  This provides an easy low power method of standby, and lower power requirements when an axis isn't actively being used.  Decay mode,determines how fast the current decays or which PWM cycle it decays in.  Max step size, min step size: the micro-stepping value used for fast moves verses high precision moves respectively.  Fault 1,2: the I/O pins used for limit or fault condition for each axis.  Lastly, protect is an indicator for which axis caused an over current/over temp fault.

6. Acceleration.  These are the values to be used for determining the max velocity and max acceleration for each axis entered in in/sec and in/sec^2 respectively.  There is a provision to enter different values for high resolution, and high speed moves although these are predicted to be the same values.

7. Sensor 1 and 2, Relay Control.  These are settings for sensors not associated with an axis and for the manual control of the relay driver.

8. Manual Axis Control.  Allows for manually moving each axis and can be used to adjust component placement if the component values are incorrect.

9. Saves/loads/exits the pick and place set-up window.

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Parent Projects: Open Source Pick and Place

Sub Projects: