Assignments

Our tasks for this week are:

Group assignment:
• Characterize the design rules for your in-house PCB production process send a PCB out to a board house
Individual assignment:
• make and test a microcontroller development board
• extra credit: personalize the board
• extra credit: make it with another process




Let's start


The machine I use is the monoFab SRM-20 from the Fab Lab of the Southern Scientific University.

Advantages:

• Compact size: The Monofab SRM-20 is relatively small and easy to fit into a limited workspace.
• Accuracy: It offers good machining accuracy, making it suitable for prototyping and detailed parts.
• Material versatility: It can work with a variety of soft materials, making it suitable for different applications.

Disadvantages:

• Proprietary software: Some users may find limitations in the software provided by the manufacturer, preferring more advanced and customizable options.
• Limited production level: Due to its size and capabilities, the SRM-20 may not be the ideal choice for large-scale production.





MonoFab SRM-20

Seeed XIAO RP2040

PCB manufacturing with MonoFab - SRM-20

Group assignment

This week we were very united to do our homework for the week, I love my team.


INTEGRANTES


Maria Angela

Architect



Jesus Lucero

Electronic



Maryori

Architect



Hans

Architect



Renso

Ing. Systems



Grace

Educator



Franco

Architect



Cristian

Architect



Ronald

Ing. Industry




PCB PRODUCTION PROCESS

A week before my partners and I were looking for the electronic components because we knew that in Peru they did not sell everything complete, then with the help of Vanessa we managed to get the Xiao, with the help of the Fab Lab of Universidad Cientifica del Sur, we were able to make the boards and solder everything in the week.

---

INVENTORY

Let's see what we all have to move forward together



List of materials

Paruro

item	Description	Price
One	CONECTOR HEADER SMD 10POS 1.27MM | Conector macho 2x2	3 PEN
Two	CONECTOR HEADER SMD R/A 6POS 2.54MM .	2 PEN
Three	Tactile Switch SPST-NO Top Actuated Surface Mount	2 PEN
Four	SEEED STUDIO XIAO RP2040	6 PEN
Five	LED BLUE CLEAR 1206 SMD | LED SMD	3 PEN
		16 PEN

---

Machine MONOFAB SRM-20




The milling machine we used at the Universidad Científica del Sur is the MONOFAB SRM-20. I have already told you about the advantages and disadvantages of this machine. Here are some specifications of the machine:

Milling 1/64 and 1/32

We used the 1/64 and 1/32 milling cutters that were very important in the manufacturing process. Here you have a picture of each of them, you must be careful when calibrating because you can break, also remember that when calibrating have an hour to leave a space between the cutter and the base, then remove the hour and lower x100, another way is to put the cutter a little more to the bottom, and then lower and release the cutter in the short space you have between the base and the entrance of the milling cutter, and adjust about a half inch.







The 1/32 milling cutter (also expressed as 0.03125 inch or approximately 0.79 mm) is a tool commonly used in the development of electronic boards using the PCB (Printed Circuit Board) milling process.



A 1/64 milling cutter (also expressed as 0.015625 inch or approximately 0.3969 mm) is an even finer tool than the 1/32 milling cutter. Its smaller size allows for more detailed cuts and finer traces in the PCB (Printed Circuit Board) milling process.



Calibration of a milling machine like the Roland monoFab SRM-20 is a critical process to ensure accurate and quality milling results.




Programation

let's start configuring together


We review the documentation of Adrian Torres we see all the detail of the indications and the microcontorlador that he used to make the plate, we copy the links as indicated in the instructions, making sure that the links are placed correctly.






Here is to be able to place the board that we will use, in my case Esp 32 c3 Arduino-Pico de Earlephilhower .


Here you can see another arduino update of what it looks like to install the Arduino mbed OS RP2040 Boards.


Here you must install the device softwaret.


Here you can see that everything was a success with the Arduino IDE

¿What is Mods?

MODS CE (Community Edition) is a spin-off project of the CBA mods research project. MODS is a cross-platform modular tool for fablabs. It is based on independent but interrelated modules. MODS could potentially be used for CAD (computer-aided design), CAM (computer-aided manufacturing), machine control, automation, user interface creation, reading input devices, reacting to physical models and much more. The possibilities are virtually limitless. The goal of the community edition is to provide documentation, support and help the community to participate in the project and to encourage the development and exchange of new modules.

Step by step process of making my first PCB


We place double contact tape on the board that we mentioned earlier so that we can glue the printed circuit board so that they cannot move when the work is being done and we can take care of our milling cutter.


Changing the milling cutter and then calibrating

Mods

For this first step we have to download the figure and pass it to the IMODELA CREATOR program, which is the program that we use before placing the configuration and the characteristics of the material that we will use.



Here I will show you how to enter the mods to make a board.




They are going to look for the Roland model they are using, in my case it is mill 2D PCB.



Here I place the PNG of the test that Neil gave us so we can know if the configuration we are using is correct.



Here I changed it by 1 offset number by 1 to make it finer.



In this part I made the changes to the origin of the machine after previously calibrating it, I set "X Y Z" to 0. Then change the button, turn off the one that was on, turn it off, and turn on the other one so that you can then calculate again and send you the file.






• Archive mods




The first tests were performed and they did not turn out as we thought



we tried again with new parameters, cut another test, and we realized the problem.so patience.



The line test, where we will perform the milling, remember that first we will perform the milling and then the cutting.



Here we see the different cuts of my colleagues, we were testing.













The result I liked the most



Here we can see the difference between the last tests, where we were able to achieve the objective we were asked to achieve for the group work. We understood the processes, configurations and we were able to obtain our board test...finally.



Conclusion

These are the parameters that worked for us, you have to test them, because each machine is different and it may not be the same configuration for you.



• Archive mods

Individual assignment

We start by making the plate for replication




The first thing we did is to analyze the microcontroller we will use, we saw its information, we learned new terms and we saw its usefulness in several projects.

Here is the png file designed by Adrian torres, creator of this magnificent board with xiao



Here I ran Adrian's design through illustrator so I could put my initials and indexes on it.






At the beginning I showed you how to get to this part, placing the png of the design of the plate you want to make, the important thing is the configuration of the mill rater 2D so that the tracks are well, reading several pages I saw that you should change the "offset number" to 1.



Here I show you the results without changing the values of the "offset number" calculate and you can see that the tracks are very thick



Here according to the Roland that I am using, and after many tests with the test, placing it at 1 in offset number was important so that the plate is made better



Here you can place view so you can see better how the tracks will be created



We can see the tracks made and that now there is a small risk of some tracks coming together, but if you are already clear about your configuration you can avoid this.



Here consider the initial position of the milling machine



Here remember the test configuration.




The result



Here we can see the difference between the last tests, where we were able to achieve the objective we were asked to achieve for the group work. We understood the processes, configurations and we were able to obtain our board test...finally.






a good result ready to be welded.



Here are the components that we managed to get in Paruro, as the people of Peru know how complicated it is to get these SMD components.




>

I started to let go, first I didn't have the correct tin to work with SMD, then my colleagues lent me one that worked well for me.



Beautiful


I wanted to put this picture, because it was just the moment when I finished soldering and it was already 1 am, I was very satisfied with the result of my plate.


Actually there were many more attempts but these are the ones that best represent all that my colleagues and I lived, all soldering their board and between us seeing and recommending how it could be improved or how it would be easier to solder.


My final plaque, proud and happy with the result if it turned on and works ....




• Back to Top
• Computer-Controlled Cutting
• 3D Scanning and Printing