Electronics prototyping idea for a TOM Makerbot and maby other bots.

[josheeg]

Electronics prototyping idea for a TOM Makerbot and maby other bots.

I created some circuit boards using OSH Pool they made the board I made the files in KiCAD.
Some of the gerber layers that can be exported to different formats are the solder paste layer.
so if the smallest cap or resistor is a 805 or 1210 SMT.
Could a solder paste plunger holder and insert to leave the 3mm or 1,7- 1.8 mm hole in a printed plunger the mk6 or mk7 with the nozel unscrewed so the plastic fed out pushed the plunger and made the bot extrude solder paste based on a stl file of the image or 2d extruded to 3d paste pads.
The corner of the board would probably need a jig for the calibration of the TOM to see the board corner as zero.

How hot could the heated bed platform get and could it be used for re-flow if the TOM's box was surrounded by a pink foam insulation box?

Now here is the last and more difficult trick .... a suction tiny pipe that would pick up the components in long trays and servo or stepper to rotate them and a web cam or something looking down to view the board.

Then after I press the buttons on the control panel to assemble one board put the components down or pick n place could it redo that with a mouse macro like a recording.

If all 3 steps could be done solder paste printed then parts pick n placed then re-flow that would be awesome.


Tell me what you think.

[adafruit_support_mike]

How hot could the heated bed platform get and could it be used for re-flow if the TOM's box was surrounded by a pink foam insulation box?

Pink foam (expanded polystyrene) will melt, and possibly burn, before you get up to reflow temperatures. At those temps, you'd need a heat-resistant insulation like rock wool. You might be able to use fiberglass insulation, but that's only good up to about 250C.

Tell me what you think.

It sounds like you have the idea for a semi-automatic pick-and-place machine. It's possible, and letting a human make the 'what part do I want next?', 'where does the part go?', and 'is the part aligned properly?' decisions will be a lot easier than doing full software control. You'll still have plenty of work to do though.

I don't know how hot the plate warmer for a Makerbot can get off the top of my head, but I'm sure you could find heating elements that would take it up to reflow temperatures.