Gents (and Ladies, if there are any on this forum).
I come to you with a problem. I am fortunate enough to have a pick and place machine that picks up tiny rice sized parts and puts them on PCBs. It's has space for 48 reels of parts (things like 10KOhm resistors, 470pF Ceramic Caps, Surface mount LED's etc).
When I program the locations for components, i have to tell it which slot to pick up the part from. (e.g. pick up component on slot 10, and drop at X=1.2 Y=2.1 etc). It works great, if I don't take any parts off the machine. However, as projects change, i can see myself needing to load the machine with different parts.
So, here's the challenge: How do I track and make sure that the right parts are on the machine, in the right order?
Here's what I do today:
I have a handful of parts that live in "permanent places" on the machine - e.g. slot 1 = 0.1uF Decoupling cap in 0603 size.
Each PCB is programmed with these "Jellybean" parts in mind, parts that are already on the machine in a fixed place.
Here's what tools I have
- Basic Database creation knowledge (PHP and MySQL)
- Barcode Printer and Scanner (emulates a keyboard)
First thoughts:
Put barcodes on each slot, and barcodes on each component. For each PCB design, have a fixed list that never changes (say slot 1-24 is for Jellybeans only) and slot 24-48 are variable for each design. After loading the machine with the "new parts" scan the barcode on the slot, and the barcode on the component to make sure they are the right part, in the right place.
Am I going nuts here? Have I over complicated the problem?
I come to you with a problem. I am fortunate enough to have a pick and place machine that picks up tiny rice sized parts and puts them on PCBs. It's has space for 48 reels of parts (things like 10KOhm resistors, 470pF Ceramic Caps, Surface mount LED's etc).
When I program the locations for components, i have to tell it which slot to pick up the part from. (e.g. pick up component on slot 10, and drop at X=1.2 Y=2.1 etc). It works great, if I don't take any parts off the machine. However, as projects change, i can see myself needing to load the machine with different parts.
So, here's the challenge: How do I track and make sure that the right parts are on the machine, in the right order?
Here's what I do today:
I have a handful of parts that live in "permanent places" on the machine - e.g. slot 1 = 0.1uF Decoupling cap in 0603 size.
Each PCB is programmed with these "Jellybean" parts in mind, parts that are already on the machine in a fixed place.
Here's what tools I have
- Basic Database creation knowledge (PHP and MySQL)
- Barcode Printer and Scanner (emulates a keyboard)
First thoughts:
Put barcodes on each slot, and barcodes on each component. For each PCB design, have a fixed list that never changes (say slot 1-24 is for Jellybeans only) and slot 24-48 are variable for each design. After loading the machine with the "new parts" scan the barcode on the slot, and the barcode on the component to make sure they are the right part, in the right place.
Am I going nuts here? Have I over complicated the problem?