A relatively small amount of flux applied to the joints before soldering will vastly improve its performance.Flux is really cheap and very effective, try it out! Anyways, incredible machine, might be very useful for small board batches(And a very fun side project at the same time!). Keep up the updates!
@@openscan_eu OpenScan usually a additional amount on the joints will help, as not all soldering wires have a reasonable amount of flux (perhaps yours is single core?). It should help it stick to the contacts better(and not anywhere else). I think in your case the solder on the iron is drying out(the flux evaporates) before the next hole. Here's a video that will illustrate my point a little better, it's the best i could find for your use case: ua-cam.com/video/tfIwHuGzUEk/v-deo.html Just don't overdo it.Also, if you want to clean it off just use acetone (dirt cheap too).
SteveCiciora ahh, I see, I am not familiar with surface mount soldering and had never seen non-acid paste flux advertised with electronic applications in mind, only acid paste flux for plumbing. Thank you.
Stumbled upon your channel after seeing teaching techs video about your OpenScan project, nice work! Just out of curiosity, how precise does the soldering tip need to be for a proper solder joint? Is it enough to heat the filament and extrude it onto the pin, or does the tip need to make proper contact to the pins?
Diego, that would require some image recognition algorithm able to tell apart good from bad soldering, and even to provide enough diagnose data to produce a feedback fast enough to make corrections on the fly.... in a 3D printer which, by definition, is an open loop machine (meaning it's devised to work without any feedback) whose firmware doesn't even have a way to hook up the feedback to modify the g-code on the fly.
Great project! As i see you did write the gcode file manually for this PCB, have you thought about importing the Drill pattern of your pcb as a jpg into cura and derive a gcode from there?
For my first try, i ve used Cura, but the Gcode generated was not very good, especially the timing needed to be manually set. Here is the GCode for one solder spot: G92 X0 Y0 Z0 F2000 G91 G1 X-1 G1 E1.5 G92 E0 G4 P500 G1 Z-3.5 G1 X1.01 G1 Z-1 G1 Y0.25 G4 P100 G1 Y-0.5 G4 P100 G1 Y0.25 G4 P1500 G1 E5 F201 G92 E0 G4 P1000 G1 Y0.25 G4 P100 G1 Y-0.5 G4 P100 G1 Y0.25 G1 E3 F201 G92 E0 G4 P2000 G1 X-1.01 Z4.5 F1000 After that, you just need to set the next position and insert this code again...
6 років тому+4
@@openscan_eu really cool idea & great you get it working!! if your pcb-layout program can export a readable format it should be relative simple to extract the THT-Pad-hole-positions that need to be solderd?! so a small script that reads the file - has your 'pad-template' and can generate the resulting G-Code...
In fact, it is "easy", but not my main focus at the moment. My plan is to increase the accuracy and reliability and, as I need only ONE pcb layout, I don't need an automated G-Code generator. Anyway, this might be a future improvement, that might have do be done by others, as my programming "skills" are limited to Arduino Copy-Pasting and a little Gcode ;)
It s a standard 14G needle. The extruder just needed a flat ball bearing instead of the curved one, because the old one did not grip to the solder wire.
Hey! I love this concept. My and a friend were thinking of doing something similar g similar for a school project. Do you possibly still have the code or anything else like that that we could base our project on?
unfortunately not. the "script" was basically an excel sheet, where I inserted the coordinates from the gerber file and performed the following at each position: down - wiggle left right - wait (for heating) - extrude - wait - up. So nothing fancy and by now i would definitely use a python script for that ^^ (but the project has been left alone for quite some time..)
Awesome thanks for replying. 2 questions, how did you push out the solder, and do you think it would be possible to do this with a camera and octoprint to do it remotely on your computer?
@@noahbauer5092 i just used the normal extruder and guided the solder through some smaller ptfe tube into a syringe/needle. And yes octoprint works perfectly fine for remote operation
I am just researching building the same project, but I do not know much about creating g code. Anyone have a beginner software that they could recommend?
unfortunately there is no beginner software for custom machines. When using a printer main board, writing GCODE is quite easy. You just need to define the X, Y, Z and extrusion value, and that's basically it..
Needs automatic tip cleaning! :P How do you zero the tip to the PCB? Manually? Why Cura? Gerber + post proc gives you the coords of your solder points :D
Great project. I was thinking myself on making PCB boards with a 3d printer, and this looks great! Now, I believe the soldering iron is too tall and this may affect the precision due to inertia (ringing and ghosting on 3d prints), so you'd need to really slow down the movement to improve accuracy, and this means you'd spend more time at each welding point. I guess you're resourcing on Z hop and filament retraction here, right?
People ask me if I'm ok, I dont hear them all I'm picturing is a 3d printer, printing it's upgrade to be able to print a robot that will help build itself even more upgrades via PCB board and solder it. It's happening...5 axis mill just turned on...
@@openscan_eu before setting up a robot I'm certainly quicker. And before using through hole pins I'd use surface mount. Selective soldering with eg. ua-cam.com/video/p-VImd2yW5s/v-deo.html I'd certainly say it would make sense. In case of back soldering you need to fix the components on the other side and be sure that they're okay I'm using a JBC solder station and non-leaded solder w 3% silver. I just don't see that those pins are a good target for such kind of machine. Maybe there's another purpose that makes more sense.
i always said that laziness is the key to innovation
It is so amazing and inspiring. I hope you are still working on stuff like this.
Really awesome. I was thinking of building the same thing.
A relatively small amount of flux applied to the joints before soldering will vastly improve its performance.Flux is really cheap and very effective, try it out!
Anyways, incredible machine, might be very useful for small board batches(And a very fun side project at the same time!).
Keep up the updates!
Thanks! There is flux inside the solder wire. Or does additional flux do further improvements?
@@openscan_eu OpenScan usually a additional amount on the joints will help, as not all soldering wires have a reasonable amount of flux (perhaps yours is single core?).
It should help it stick to the contacts better(and not anywhere else).
I think in your case the solder on the iron is drying out(the flux evaporates) before the next hole.
Here's a video that will illustrate my point a little better, it's the best i could find for your use case:
ua-cam.com/video/tfIwHuGzUEk/v-deo.html
Just don't overdo it.Also, if you want to clean it off just use acetone (dirt cheap too).
Never saw paste flux that wasn't acid flux. acetone won't clean holes in the board.
Use acid flux and wave bye bye to your project.
Acid flux is for plumbing not electronics. Non-acid flux (paste, liquid, jell) is used all the time in surface mount soldering and rework.
SteveCiciora ahh, I see, I am not familiar with surface mount soldering and had never seen non-acid
paste flux advertised with electronic applications in mind, only acid paste flux for plumbing. Thank you.
0:44
It beats 90's / 2000's documentary / "industry training film" animation!
Stumbled upon your channel after seeing teaching techs video about your OpenScan project, nice work!
Just out of curiosity, how precise does the soldering tip need to be for a proper solder joint?
Is it enough to heat the filament and extrude it onto the pin, or does the tip need to make proper contact to the pins?
Off the chart! You're great!
you are AMAZING. All I get after 20h is a pile of broken components and broken dreams. X-|
Those results are super promising
Very nice project! I think if you add a camera/webcam with python (openCV) you will be able to increase accuracy.
Actually i use octoprint and there is a camera feature included. I just didnt have time to design a camera mount ;)
Diego, that would require some image recognition algorithm able to tell apart good from bad soldering, and even to provide enough diagnose data to produce a feedback fast enough to make corrections on the fly.... in a 3D printer which, by definition, is an open loop machine (meaning it's devised to work without any feedback) whose firmware doesn't even have a way to hook up the feedback to modify the g-code on the fly.
Very nice!
A 3D printer seems to be perfectly suited for it!
Any Updates?
Great project! As i see you did write the gcode file manually for this PCB, have you thought about importing the Drill pattern of your pcb as a jpg into cura and derive a gcode from there?
For my first try, i ve used Cura, but the Gcode generated was not very good, especially the timing needed to be manually set. Here is the GCode for one solder spot: G92 X0 Y0 Z0 F2000
G91
G1 X-1
G1 E1.5
G92 E0
G4 P500
G1 Z-3.5
G1 X1.01
G1 Z-1
G1 Y0.25
G4 P100
G1 Y-0.5
G4 P100
G1 Y0.25
G4 P1500
G1 E5 F201
G92 E0
G4 P1000
G1 Y0.25
G4 P100
G1 Y-0.5
G4 P100
G1 Y0.25
G1 E3 F201
G92 E0
G4 P2000
G1 X-1.01 Z4.5 F1000
After that, you just need to set the next position and insert this code again...
@@openscan_eu really cool idea & great you get it working!!
if your pcb-layout program can export a readable format it should be relative simple to extract the THT-Pad-hole-positions that need to be solderd?!
so a small script that reads the file - has your 'pad-template' and can generate the resulting G-Code...
In fact, it is "easy", but not my main focus at the moment. My plan is to increase the accuracy and reliability and, as I need only ONE pcb layout, I don't need an automated G-Code generator. Anyway, this might be a future improvement, that might have do be done by others, as my programming "skills" are limited to Arduino Copy-Pasting and a little Gcode ;)
Can you share more details. What needle did you use? Mods on the extduder?
It s a standard 14G needle. The extruder just needed a flat ball bearing instead of the curved one, because the old one did not grip to the solder wire.
I am currently working on my 3d scanner, so unfortunately, this project is not well documented, yet :)
This is awesome. Super creative!
Link to the cheap A8 kit?
Hey! I love this concept. My and a friend were thinking of doing something similar g similar for a school project. Do you possibly still have the code or anything else like that that we could base our project on?
unfortunately not. the "script" was basically an excel sheet, where I inserted the coordinates from the gerber file and performed the following at each position: down - wiggle left right - wait (for heating) - extrude - wait - up. So nothing fancy and by now i would definitely use a python script for that ^^ (but the project has been left alone for quite some time..)
Awesome thanks for replying. 2 questions, how did you push out the solder, and do you think it would be possible to do this with a camera and octoprint to do it remotely on your computer?
@@noahbauer5092 i just used the normal extruder and guided the solder through some smaller ptfe tube into a syringe/needle. And yes octoprint works perfectly fine for remote operation
Another question lol, how did you clean the tip if at all while the robot was running?
I cleaned the tip manually between runs with a sponge. This could have been automated though
I am just researching building the same project, but I do not know much about creating g code. Anyone have a beginner software that they could recommend?
unfortunately there is no beginner software for custom machines. When using a printer main board, writing GCODE is quite easy. You just need to define the X, Y, Z and extrusion value, and that's basically it..
hey dude! i want some info for this project please
Needs automatic tip cleaning! :P
How do you zero the tip to the PCB? Manually?
Why Cura? Gerber + post proc gives you the coords of your solder points :D
Hi how can i contect you? i currently doing an automatic soldering machine for my project and i need your help please
info@openscan.eu is my mail, feel free to reach out over there
how about smd/smt pcb
Never bothered to try ;) I think, it might be to inaccurate anyway
Great project. I was thinking myself on making PCB boards with a 3d printer, and this looks great!
Now, I believe the soldering iron is too tall and this may affect the precision due to inertia (ringing and ghosting on 3d prints), so you'd need to really slow down the movement to improve accuracy, and this means you'd spend more time at each welding point. I guess you're resourcing on Z hop and filament retraction here, right?
Very impressive
Amazing! Keep up
I love it.
Great project!
Grossartige arbeit, beste grüsse aus berlin! ;-)
Thanks for sharing !
Wow, very great!
Awesome
People ask me if I'm ok, I dont hear them all I'm picturing is a 3d printer, printing it's upgrade to be able to print a robot that will help build itself even more upgrades via PCB board and solder it. It's happening...5 axis mill just turned on...
I saw the first 15 seconds, I just heat up the solder iron and run over all pins at once from the side. Neither a robot can beat that for prototypes
And what about endurance?! ;)
@@openscan_eu before setting up a robot I'm certainly quicker. And before using through hole pins I'd use surface mount.
Selective soldering with eg. ua-cam.com/video/p-VImd2yW5s/v-deo.html
I'd certainly say it would make sense. In case of back soldering you need to fix the components on the other side and be sure that they're okay
I'm using a JBC solder station and non-leaded solder w 3% silver.
I just don't see that those pins are a good target for such kind of machine. Maybe there's another purpose that makes more sense.
Pls check here, we are working on gui for it
github.com/swissembedded/opensolderingrobot
Great project!
Awesome project !!!