Open Capitalist

The goal is to create an open source manufacturing line for printed circuit boards.  Here are the reasons for why this is important:

Currently an open source hardware designer faces a very high cost of production due to the low quantities involved.  This will greatly reduce the cost of manufacturing to the point where the end product is competitively priced with the commercial equivalent. 

Bring production back to the local scale.  There are very few places left around me to have electronics manufactured (Portland, Oregon, US.)  This will serve to reverse that while still remaining cost competitive.

In addition to the cost of product, we are also interested in reducing the cost of components.  The small producer can not get the quantity pricing that large manufactures can.  It is our intention to carry a small collection of common components and sell them at cost for open source products.  This will further reduce costs.

Lastly, this can provide an extra income stream for open source hardware designers.  We have plans to set up a website to allow those that have these machines to sell their unused machine time to other individuals.

 

 A quick overview of the entire process:

A printed circuit board handler would handle the board and provide a conveyor system to move it through the process steps.

The first step would be to present this board to the solder-paste applicator.  This is essentially a very accurate screen printing process.  As the board is aligned under the press a clamp is closed and a squeegee spreads solder paste through orifices on a thin sheet of stainless steel .

The printed circuit board then travels down the line to the pick and place machine.  This is the heart of the line and where the most development time has been focused.  This machine is responsible for picking the parts from their respective location and accurately placing them in the proper place.

The last step in this initial process is a reflow oven that melts the solder paste and provides the final electrical connection for the parts.

There are some additional steps that could be required, but this covers 90% of the manufacturing of PCBs, the notable exception to the above is through hole soldering.  This will be added in future products, but it is even more complex then surface mount components.

Please check out the sub projects for more information.

Phases of development:

The first and most complex is the actual Pick and Place machine.  We have the software and hardware functional at this time.  They still need some polishing, but the software works and all 4 axis move beautifully.  We are going to offer a standalone pick and place machine for those that can make due with a more manual process.

Second phase would include all the other parts mentioned above.  Automation of the rest of the surface mount process.

Third phase is a website for machine owners to sell their machine time as well as a distribution system for electrical components.

Thanks for reading this and please click through the sub-projects to learn more.