Retro Populator

Video explanation of RetroPopulator:

Version 1.0 : Essentially complete now. CNC milled acrylic base plate, with milled tape holders. Vacuum syringe for picking up parts, vacuum supplied by SMT rework station. Milled nozzle mount which attaches to the side of the existing extruder. Z-axis rezero jig to easily change re-zero height. 3D printed cam-lock parts to holds boards in place on 10mm peg-grid base. Code parses a yml file for board & tape placement info, and then an eagle .brd file directly for part types and locations. It generate a gcode file which goes from pick to place location for all of the parts which can be populated. Support for multiple boards. Demo of RetroPopulator in operation, with multiple components and multiple boards:

Connected Device

The RetroPopulator connects mechanically to a 3D printer, which in turns connects to a computer. For our software we use Tegh, a wifi 3D printer client/server application D1plo1d's been building. For now we're using it locally on a single laptop, but ultimately it will allow us to access the RetroPopulator from our laptops anywhere in the lab and extra ultimately, the world, which is awesome! The ability to quickly load the RetroPopulator jig into a 3D printer, combined with wifi accessibility via Tegh, makes the RetroPopulator perfect for a modern connected workspace like hacklab.to or Ultimate Workshop.

Future Plans

Version 2.0: currently in planning/design. Addition of tape advancement, including plastic cover peeling. Addition of a second nozzle which will do solder paste dispensing. Software will have 'position confirm' feature where it will move to the corner of each board, and the first component on each tape, so that you can verify key locations directly before running the entire job.

Version 3.0: part rotation. Numerous other things we'll learn about as we do V2.0, no doubt...

Licensing

We're fully open source! Our PopCAM and Tegh Daemon software are licensed under GPL3. The Tegh GUI is licensed under MIT. Our hardware designs are licensed under MIT as well. All text, images and videos CC-BY V4.0.

System Design Doc

Charles has done up a nice brain-map of the RetroPopulator, download full-size PDF, or see a small version here:

Artist's Rendition:

Finally, please sign up to our mailing list! We'll be sending out details on a monthly basis, and of course we'll let you know when the Retro Populator is actually available for sale (or for kickstarter pledge).

Project Logs

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Semi-final Video, artists rendition, and more!
Eric Boyd • 09/29/2014 at 02:02 • 2 comments

Another great day of documentation! We've completed our <5 minute semi-final video:
And we've got an artist's rendition of the Retro Populator, showing how we envision the simplest version of the kit:
Finally, Adam has been hard at work curating his vast collection of photos of our hacking sessions, and we've made this wonderful Flickr Gallery, where you can see us all hard at work! A choice photo for you:
It's all four of us (Adam behind the camera, as always), doing another pick and place run as part of our ongoing testing.
Thanks for all your Skulls everyone, Team Retro Populator over and out!
Progress on Tape Peeling
Eric Boyd • 09/28/2014 at 18:43 • 0 comments

Charles has been hard at work on the design and build of a tape peeling system, first parts pictured here:
Basically the idea is to have a reel which holds the plastic cover. The mechanism is spring wound, and the tape peels as it enters the tape holder. The tape itself will be advanced by the 3D printer - we're planning to use the needle itself in the round holes on the tape, so basically for each part it picks, it'll advance the tape one notch just before the pick, and the spring/reel will wind up the cover. Collectively these two ideas will allow us to reduce the length of the tape holders, since we'll only need to have enough length to make the tape stable. Lots more work remains, but we're excited to soon have automated tape peeling!
Vacuum Regulation
Eric Boyd • 09/26/2014 at 15:13 • 0 comments

Sorry for the long radio silence, we've been quite busy with the hacklab.to move! We have been making progress on the Retro Populator, including some work towards part rotation, and some improvements in our pick-n-place percentage (number of parts correctly placed versus failed). One key step in the latter has been the addition of a vacuum regulation device, basically, a flow meter with integrated valve, pictured here:

It's plumbed between the hot-air rework intake (our vacuum source) and the pick-n-place needle. It allows us to very finely control the vacuum suction, which is important for making sure that both picks and places happen easily. The hot-air station does have some regulation, but since we improved all the plumbing, we've discovered that even the lowest setting on that machine is too much suction to make places work reliably. This new valve has greatly improved reliability and repeatability, and it's likely that we'll be including some version of this device with kits, because it makes it much less important what your source of vacuum is. Simply adjust valve while manually testing picks and places with the needle, until things work (setting also depends a little on what parts you want - though we've found that moderate settings are great for everything from 0603 resistors right up to SOT23s, no further adjustments required!). Then note the flow rate reading, so that you know for future runs or if you ever swap equipment around.
All About Retro Populator
Eric Boyd • 07/20/2014 at 22:11 • 0 comments

Here's a <2 minute video which explains our motivations and aspirations for the Retro Populator:
RetroPopulator is kicking it up to 11!
D1plo1d • 07/10/2014 at 03:08 • 1 comment

Today we're showcasing 12,000 mm / minute of sweet FOSS pick and place automation.
We've also upped the complexity in this run by pick and placing components for a circular board. And we're placing 4 different components in 2 different rotations.
And we're doing 2 boards at once!
Why all of that at once? Because why not that's why!
All I'm saying is this isn't last week's pick and place!
Final Score: 9 / 12 Pick and Places successful.
How to use the RetroPopulator v1
D1plo1d • 07/08/2014 at 23:36 • 0 comments

Check it out! It's Eric in all his splendour showing off how we set up the RetroPopulator!
Part 1/2Part 2/2
Retro Populator in action
Eric Boyd • 07/02/2014 at 19:33 • 0 comments
early prototype using laser cut jig
Eric Boyd • 06/26/2014 at 18:36 • 0 comments