#686 – A Benchtop Pick and Place with Stephen Hawes

Chris interviewed Stephen back in 2020 for his second episode of The Contextual Electronics Podcast. It was when Stephen was still working at Formlabs and the Lumen/Opulo were a glimmer in his eye.
The Lumen v4 is a Benchtop Pick and Place machine that works with OpenPNP
Where are we in relation to reprap?
Powered feeders
Videos about eeprom
KiCad pos file
Can reliably place 0402
Lumen v4 product page
Motherboard of v4
Running Marlin FW
Head has two heads/nozzles
Compare the Lumen to other methods (hand placed, paying for assembly)
OHM (Open Hardware Manufacturing) podcast
What industries are open?
Thea Flowers (of Winterbloom synth fame) just joined the team
Microscope
Other tools
Space constraints
Stephen does a great job talking through many experiments and upcoming features on his youtube channel
Prototyping PCBs with a fiber laser
Micronix
Making PCBs on a 3D printer (hack session with Stephen’s former employer)
Timon (Skerutsch) makes double sided PCBs by inserting enameled wire through drilled holes

Is this the year you should get a Pick and Place? Stephen won’t say yes (but I will)