In his newest video, Stephen Hawes, CEO of Opulo, eagerly declares that LumenPnP model 4 is on the market! This open supply desktop pick-and-place machine now helps passives all the way down to 0402 and 0.5 mm BGAs with its all-new optics system and upgraded electronics. Plus, it’s over 300% sooner than its predecessor!
“For the previous couple of years … we have been iterating, bettering, and creating primarily based on the vast expertise from our consumer base, with tens of millions of components positioned. The LumenPnP v4 is the fruits of these insights, distilled into an meeting workhorse, leaving no stone unturned.” — Stephen Hawes, Opulo CEO
The LumenPnP automates taking components from feeder tape and precisely inserting them on a printed circuit board (PCB). PCBs as much as 225 by 400 millimeters match inside LumenPnP’s work space. The work space depends upon the variety of staging plates within the configuration. Structural components embody v-slot aluminum extrusions, aluminum brackets, and 3D-printed components. There are 5 axes of movement: X, Y, Z, A, and B, with A and B as rotations for the vacuum heads.
The top has two vacuum-operated nozzles for putting elements. After a nozzle picks up a component, its orientation is unknown. So, one digital camera captures a “backside” view of elements to orientate components for placement on the PCB.
Upgraded Imaginative and prescient System (📷: Hawes)
The imaginative and prescient system is likely one of the most important upgrades to LumenPnP v4. Hawes says they wanted to make use of customized optics to realize a steadiness between excessive decision and a large discipline of view (FOV). The decision is critical to seize part pictures precisely for sizes all the way down to 0402 or 0.5mm pitch BGAs. In distinction, a large FOV allows imaging of bigger elements, like an ESP module.
One other quality-of-life enchancment on the location heads is an Auxiliary (AUX) connector. This characteristic provides customers GPIO management and permits them to attach programming headers, lights, or different helpful equipment.
New Management Board (📷: Opulo)
Opulo built-in two different upgrades right into a single piece. A brand new STM32-based microcontroller (MCU) board comprises new vacuum sensors, built-in stepper drives, and an growth port. In comparison with v3, the brand new management board provides a devoted driver for the Y-axis, which improves v4’s velocity by 300%! Opulo put the MCU board inside a customized (3D-printed) enclosure that additionally homes the pneumatics. This design determination makes LumenPnP v4 a lot quieter than earlier machines.
LumenPnP 8mm Feeder (📷: Opulo)
Powered part feeders can be found in 8mm and 12mm variants to accommodate industry-standard tape widths. These units are small machines that talk with the PC-based OpenPNP software program instantly. They run a firmware for pick-and-place feeders known as Photon. There may be sufficient room for as much as 50 LumenPnP Feeders when utilizing the machine with two staging plates or 25 feeders with three staging plates.
LumenPnP is an open supply mission. This GitHub repository homes the mission’s KiCad design information for the PCBs and CAD information for mechanical items. It additionally hyperlinks to associated software program like OpenPnP.
The Opulo retailer is taking orders and able to ship LumenPnP v4. The essential unit, which features a staging plate, a construct plate, nozzles, instruments, and a getting-started package, prices $1,995. The powered feeders are offered individually and begin at $95 every.