This component placement list and Pick and Place File is very important for the right utilization of the pick and place machines. The pick and place data are necessary for the proper placement of the through-hole and surface mount parts on the circuit boards. This pick and place data can be described as the machine file that takes the text format of ASCII. This is composed of the X/Y locations, reference designator, rotation, the bottom or top side of the circuit board, etc.
The XY position or pick and place files are very useful for the automated placement of the SMT component. Also, you can program the pick and place machines manually, making use of a special camera guide. However, this could take a very long period, especially for boards having lots of components, which could lead to errors. With the Pick and Place file, you will be able to improve your accuracy as well as save time.
Pick and Place files can be basically described as the components present in their design as well as their x-y rotation and coordinates. Majority of the PCB design softwares can also help in extracting the orientation and location of the component from the layout file of the board. This produces your pick and place file.
KiCad Pick and Place File
Whenever you want a machine to assemble YourPCB, you can create the position file for that machine to know where each part will be placed. The KiCad process could be a bit tricky; this is why we have decided to create a comprehensive article to assist you with the generation of a position file.
The first step is placing the “Place File Origin’. Search for “Place” and then select drill/place file Origin. Next, place this origin in the board’s lower left-hand corner side of the board. Note that, if it doesn’t take a perfect spot in that corner, then it is nice so far it remains close.
Check the PCBNew section, select ‘File’ and then select ‘Fabrication Outputs.’ Then from there, choose Component Placement (denoted as .pos).
During the generation of these files, male sure that these settings are in place:
- Format –ASCIIUnits – Millimeters
- Files – Separate the files for the back, front
- Check – Make use of the place/drill file origin
There would be two different .pos files created. One of the files would be for the top part of the board while the other will be for the bottom part of the board. Now, these are the important files that we cannot but make use of.
What is the Pick and Place File Composed of?
Now, let us consider what the file is composed of.
- Ref: This is the designator for your component. It is usually set in a schematic builder
- Package: It is the footprint used when you are laying out your PCB
- Val: This is the value of the component. It is usually set in a schematic builder
- PosY: It is the Y-position with respect to its place origin
- PosX: This is the X-position with respect to its place origin
- Side: This is the side of that port where the part is on. Note that you must have two different files for the bottom and top.
- Rot: It is the number of degrees that the part has to be rotated using the machine during assembly
If there’s a need to make changes to the .pos file, make sure you don’t alter the file created. Only make changes in the layout and then create a new.pos file. The generated file is fed into the pick and place machine and it might not function effectively if you make changes to the format.
How to Generate Altium Pick and Place File
Accessing the Setup
You can access the dialog of your Pick and Place Setup in these ways outlined below. Click on File, then select Assembly Outputs, and then choose “generate pick and place files from the PCB.” Under “Assembly Outputs”, which is seen in the Outputs section of the OutJob (denoted as *.OutJob), click the “generate pick and place files” twice.
All Columns: This explains all the parameters where you can select from to be added to the output file. Then enable the parameter’s Show column which you wish to add to the output. Also, the information of the location can be expressed in three different ways. This corresponds to those three methods though which the reference point of a component footprint may be specified inside your source PCB library.
- Mid X, Mid Y – This coordinates for the center point of the component
- Ref X, Ref Y – This coordinates for the user defined reference point of the component
- Pad X, Pad Y – This coordinates for the Pad 1 of that component
- The Grid Region: The grid region shows a preview of what information would be added to the output file.
Output Settings
Units: This region is used for specifying if you should use metric or imperial units when measuring the location coordinates of the component
- Show Units: This shows the units
- Formats: This shows the different formats (Text and/or CSV) from which you wish to generate the output.
- The Separator: Choose your preferred unit separator out of the drop-down
- Exclude the Filter Parameters: This enables the exclusion of the parameters utilized for the filtering
- Include the Variation Component: This feature enables you to add variants.
When you click Ok, you will generate the pick and place files (.txt and .csv). These files would be stored in line with the defined output paths.
These files would be seen in the Projects Panel, which is located under the project’s Text/Generated Documents sub folder.
Tips
The dialog offers the capability to integrate custom filtering in order to remove some certain parts from the report. You need to select the filter icon to apply filtering. The filter icon is in a column header. You will realize that the subsequent menu comprises row entries to enable quick elective filtering. All you just need to do is to select the custom entry. This helps you to have access to the Custom Filter dialog.
Furthermore, you can integrate the dialog to indicate the rows of data to be displayed in the BOM according to the filtering criteria. The filter icon will change its color to blue once you have applied it. This means that the column in question is experiencing custom filtering. As required, add custom filtering to the other data columns.
What is the Significance of the Pick and Place File?
Pick and Place Files play a very significant role in the process of PCB assembly. Typically, it features the line number of the BOM, XYZ coordinates, reference designator, as well as each board component’s part number.
Also, the pick and place file is very important for the selective soldering and SMT placement machines. This happens before the process of assembly starts.
The circuit boards come manufactured in panels. Also, it is very important that you update your pick and place files continuously after each change has been made on your board.
Instructions Necessary for Pick and Place File Creation with Different Software Types
Eagle Software
To create your pick and place file, run mountsmd.ulp. You may be able to view this file from the menu. Choose File then run the ULP from your dropdown list. This software would create this .mnt (mount top) as well as .mnb (mount reverse). The file also maintains the components’ location coupled with the PCB origin’s coordinates. This file will be in txt format.
The Altium Software
The altium software is useful for creating an output for the pick and place that will be utilized during the process of assembly. To create the output, two options are available.
Create (*.outjob), which is the Output Job Configuration file. This creates an output generator that is well configured. Choose File from your menu. From your dropdown list, select Assembly Output, then “Generate Pick & Place Files.”
Once you click Ok, you’ll see your output in the dialog box of your Pick and Place Setup. Note that the settings will be stored and kept safe in the config file. Moreover, when making use of the dialog of the Pick and Place Setup, these settings will be stored inside the project file.
Allegro/OrCAD Software
There is a similar procedure for the creation of pick and place files for either Allegra or OrCAD software. Select File from your menu. Then from the dropdown, click “Export” and then “Placement.” Note that this procedure works with the most recent versions of Allegro or OrCAD software. The earlier versions might be different. Make sure you consult the documentation of the user to get more information.
Conclusion
In order to place the surface mounted components on the printed circuit boards through automated equipment, creating the pick and place file is very necessary. This helps in programming the equipment. The pick and place file has all the necessary positional parameters that this machine will know where this component will be placed as well as the orientation it would be on the printed circuit board.
