Creating a pick and place control board with the RP2040

#1

Post by scottwick » Sat, Nov 05, 2022, 4:46 PM UTC

Creating a pick and place control board with the RP2040
blog.thea.codes

Re: Creating a pick and place control board with the RP2040

#2

Post by adamrmcd » Sat, Nov 05, 2022, 6:36 PM UTC

I am absolutely loving the author's explanation on WHY each component was selected, placed, and caveats.

The interactive schematics and gerbers are subtle but very effective.

Overall a very clear design and tone I really need to follow for my own PCB projects.

Re: Creating a pick and place control board with the RP2040

#3

Post by theacodes » Sat, Nov 05, 2022, 6:57 PM UTC

adamrmcd wrote: post #2

I am absolutely loving the author's explanation on WHY each component was selected, placed, and caveats. The interactive schematics and gerbers are subtle but very effective. Overall a very clear design and tone I really need to follow for my own PCB projects.

Author here, thank you for the kind words! My goal is always to write the thing I would've wanted to have when I started out.

Re: Creating a pick and place control board with the RP2040

#4

Post by sintezcs » Sat, Nov 05, 2022, 6:59 PM UTC

I’d be happy to read about the software part of the project. How was the firmware created? Which language was used and why? How does it communicate with the host and what software do you need to run on the host?

Re: Creating a pick and place control board with the RP2040

#5

Post by theacodes » Sat, Nov 05, 2022, 7:07 PM UTC

sintezcs wrote: post #4

I’d be happy to read about the software part of the project. How was the firmware created? Which language was used and why? How does it communicate with the host and what software do you need to run on the host?

Hi! I'm planning on talking about that in an upcoming post. There's options - you can run 3d printer firmware like Marlin (C++/Arduino) or Klipper (Python & C), the tricky bit is getting those to talk to the vacuum sensors. Communication is via gcode commands sent over USB serial. Most folks are running their Lumen with OpenPNP on the host.

I'm actually running completely custom firmware that I wrote specifically for this board that's written in C and uses Raspberry Pi's pico SDK. It's similar to Marlin/Klipper in that the host communicates via gcode over USB serial and that movement commands are more or less done the same, but it gives me the flexibility to simplify the whole host view of the pneumatics. It absolutely wasn't necessary for me to this, I just wanted to.

Re: Creating a pick and place control board with the RP2040

#6

Post by jakewins » Sat, Nov 05, 2022, 7:10 PM UTC

theacodes wrote: post #3

adamrmcd wrote: post #2

I am absolutely loving the author's explanation on WHY each component was selected, placed, and caveats. The interactive schematics and gerbers are subtle but very effective. Overall a very clear design and tone I really need to follow for my own PCB projects.

Author here, thank you for the kind words! My goal is always to write the thing I would've wanted to have when I started out.

Second the poster above, really enjoyed the reasoning around how and why you picked parts and the intent of various circuits..

Do you have any books you recommend on electronics? I feel I understand the basics, like what various components do in isolation, but would love to level up and understand circuit design like how you are approaching it here

Re: Creating a pick and place control board with the RP2040

#7

Post by caraffle » Sat, Nov 05, 2022, 7:21 PM UTC

jakewins wrote: post #6

theacodes wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Author here, thank you for the kind words! My goal is always to write the thing I would've wanted to have when I started out.

Second the poster above, really enjoyed the reasoning around how and why you picked parts and the intent of various circuits.. Do you have any books you recommend on electronics? I feel I understand the basics, like what various components do in isolation, but would love to level up and understand circuit design like how you are approaching it here

IMO the best way is to just pick a project and work on it. Using application notes and datasheets lets you piece together circuits, and you pick up design patterns along the way.

Re: Creating a pick and place control board with the RP2040

#8

Post by theacodes » Sat, Nov 05, 2022, 7:40 PM UTC

jakewins wrote: post #6

theacodes wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Author here, thank you for the kind words! My goal is always to write the thing I would've wanted to have when I started out.

Second the poster above, really enjoyed the reasoning around how and why you picked parts and the intent of various circuits.. Do you have any books you recommend on electronics? I feel I understand the basics, like what various components do in isolation, but would love to level up and understand circuit design like how you are approaching it here

I'll echo sibling's comment about just doing it. Theory only takes you so far, it's important to actually build and experiment, even if it's just in a simulator.

I can recommend Practical Electronics for Inventors as a solid base of projects to experiment with and learn from. If you want to learn how to improve circuits and optimize for specific behaviors, there is a wealth of information in manufacturer application notes. A lot of the protection circuitry used in my article follows advice found in application notes.

Re: Creating a pick and place control board with the RP2040

#9

Post by scottwick » Sat, Nov 05, 2022, 7:45 PM UTC

theacodes wrote: post #3

adamrmcd wrote: post #2

I am absolutely loving the author's explanation on WHY each component was selected, placed, and caveats. The interactive schematics and gerbers are subtle but very effective. Overall a very clear design and tone I really need to follow for my own PCB projects.

Author here, thank you for the kind words! My goal is always to write the thing I would've wanted to have when I started out.

Fantastic write up - thank you! I also love hearing about why each part was chosen. As an electronics hobbyist I often mimic portions of others' designs but I'm not always entirely sure why a certain part was chosen among the various options.

Do you prototype all this on a breadboard before making the PCB and picking specific parts? I'd be curious to hear more about your process. I feel like I always need to test everything I build on a breadboard first since I inevitably miss some small detail if I go straight to schematic + PCB design.

Re: Creating a pick and place control board with the RP2040

#10

Post by theacodes » Sat, Nov 05, 2022, 7:52 PM UTC

scottwick wrote: post #9

theacodes wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Author here, thank you for the kind words! My goal is always to write the thing I would've wanted to have when I started out.

Fantastic write up - thank you! I also love hearing about why each part was chosen. As an electronics hobbyist I often mimic portions of others' designs but I'm not always entirely sure why a certain part was chosen among the various options. Do you prototype all this on a breadboard before making the PCB and picking specific parts? I'd be curious to hear more about your process. I feel like I always need to test eve…

Great question! It really depends. If I'm working with a part I haven't ever worked with before, I'll often make a minimal breakout board that I can talk to with a devboard like an Arduino or Feather.

If I'm pretty familiar with everything, I generally dive into a rough PCB layout and debug from there. If I absolutely can't get anything to work, I'll go back to the drawing board and possibly do some little breakouts, for example: https://twitter.com/theavalkyrie/status/1457845661370568709

Edit: for this specific project I did make breakouts for testing the MOSFETs and solenoid drivers. I'm glad I did, since I was able to try out a couple of different options for each: https://twitter.com/theavalkyrie/status/1550878465876004865