Salvaging a commercial-grade pick and place machine

rebuilding-a-pick-and-place

Why build a pick and place machine from the ground up when you can start with a full featured, but non-functional unit, and bring it back to life. That's exactly what [Charliex] is doing with this Juki 360 rebuild. A bit of background is in order here. [Charliex] is working alongside other hackers at Null Space Labs to restore this hardware. The Los Angeles based hackerspace sponsored the … [Read more...]

Repairing an old pick and place machine

repairing_juki_placemat_360

Professional-grade pick and place machines are quite pricey, so when the crew at Null Space Labs picked up an old Juki Placemat 360 for only $1,200, they were stoked. When they finally got it in-house however, they realized that the seller’s definition of “working” was a bit different than theirs. The machine’s compressor is busted, and there are all sorts of other bits that require some … [Read more...]

ArduDelta would make a great pick and place machine

delta

[Bogdan] sent in a great build of a delta robot he originally posted on the Arduino forum, but he didn't receive much feedback there. We think a build like this deserves a lot more credit. After working for 7 months on his robot, [Bogdan] has a pretty stable (and very classy) platform made out of wood. The platform and arms in delta robots are usually extremely light to reduce the inertia of … [Read more...]

A pick and place machine for under $1k

inexpensive-pick-and-place

Pick and place machines are marvels of modern technology. They the can lift, orient, align and drop tiny electronic components onto a circuit board that is headed for the reflow oven. On an industrial scale they move so fast it's a blur in front of your eyes, and they use imaging to ensure proper placement. But that kind of specialized equipment is going to cost a real bundle of money. [Bootstrap] … [Read more...]

Pick and place at home

diy_pick_and_place

[Erv'] wrote in to share a manual pick and place he recently constructed. He builds a lot of circuits using SMD parts, and after looking at commercial pick and place systems, he decided it would be far cheaper to build his own. Using some components he had sitting around the house, along with a few store-bought pieces, he put the pick and place together for about $50, which is pretty cheap when … [Read more...]

Amazing quad pick and place system tirelessly sorts your Legos

delta_robots

[Chris] is quite the devoted tinkerer. He recently wrote in to share what can only be described as a labor of love. His Quad Delta Robot system has been in the works for about six years now, split into periods of research, building, more research, and rebuilding until arriving at its current form. The system is made up of four Lego NXT robots which are tasked with sorting Lego cubes by color as … [Read more...]

Magnetic SMD pick and place

magnetic_pick_and_place

[svofski] sent us this pick and place robot (Google translation) that he found , and it's quite unique. The majority of the components that make up this pick and place have been recycled from old computer equipment. The X-axis motion is accomplished using old printer parts, while an old CD-ROM drive was gutted to provide motion along the Y-axis. Floppy drive components were ultimately chosen to … [Read more...]