Pick-n-Place Feeders

Reel/tape feeder

Erik designed an SMT tape feeder (files available on Thingiverse). Feeders are available commercially, but tend to cost hundreds of dollars each, while the majority of the parts can be printed for less than 20 cents. It is a parametric design that can be easily adjusted for various sizes of SMD tape. The gear will also be adjusted depending on the pitch of the tape and components.

This video shows an explanation of how it works: <videoflash type="youtube">fsWpC6L91qo</videoflash>

Tube/stick feeders

Easier to mechanically advance them all, as you can vibrate a whole platform and they will slide forward. Because of variations, a (visual) bottom camera is useful to calibrate for correct part placement. Any epicentric weight on a motor will probably work? Perhaps the part should smash onto it. Another alternative is to have a piezzo induced vibrator.

Manual tape feeders

We're interested mostly in automated fabrication, but these are useful manual systems: on ebay.

Tray feeder

Needs a good camera calibration for adjusting for offset errors (like the stick feeder). Needs to software to remember the empty/filled status of various positions (or allow it to scan for parts!). Feedback on the vacuum pressure at the nozzle tip should also be a way to detect if a part was grabbed.