Ploopy Has a 3D-Printable SMD Component Feeder for Pick-and-Place Machines

Pick-and-place (PNP) machines are very handy for populating PCBs quickly, efficiently, and precisely. While they’re still expensive and therefore relatively uncommon in home labs, they are indispensable in processional board assembly facilities. If you work in a facility like that, have access to a PNP machine at your local makerspace, or are lucky enough to have your own PNP machine at home, you’ll need a way to dispense your SMD components. PloopyCo has an open source semi-automatic component feeder that you can 3D print and use with your PNP machine.

SMD parts can range in size from small to ludicrously small — an important fact if you are trying to cram a bunch of components onto a small PCB. But that also means that those 01005 SMD components are nearly impossible to remove from their packaging by hand. Fortunately, those packaging strips are designed with automatic feed for PNP machines in mind. The component itself is held tightly in place in its own little compartment on the strip, and the compartments are spaced apart by consistent increments. This makes them easy for your PNP machine to locate and grab, so long as you can reliably feed them.

Ploopy’s feeder has been made for standard 8mm paper strips, but it may also be possible to modify the open source design if you use something else. Most of the parts can be printed on any well-calibrated 3D printer, but you will need some additional hardware. That includes a spring, screws, nuts, washers, a 6700 bearing, and magnets to hold each feeder on the base plate. That base plate can accommodate five feeders. The Ploopy feeder has a semi-automatic ratcheting mechanism that will feed a single component each time the lever is pushed down. All PNP machines can be programmed to push down that lever and then grab the component. It has been tested on a LitePlacer PNP, but should work with most others.