Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Prototyping Machine
W.G.C.A. Sankalpa, R.M.G.P. Rathnasekara, K.R.S.M. Rathnasinghe, T.P.K. Gamage
Abstract:
This project focused on designing a low cost, eco-friendly PCB (Printed Circuit Board) prototyping machine with a higher accuracy for the domestic and small scale users.
Key Words:
Accuracy; Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC); Eco-friendly; Low cost; Printed Circuit Board (PCB); G-code
Overview
Nowadays it’s hard to find a product without electronic components, and they are getting smaller day by day. Consequently, the printed circuit boards used on these products are getting more complex and compacted with thinner tracks. The existing milling machines to produce PCBs are highly sophisticated, high expensive and applicable for mass production at industrial scale. So this project aimed to develop a CNC milling machine for printed circuit boards with low manufacturing costs for domestic use. The main requirement of this project was to produce precise PCB prototypes by milling of insulation channels, drilling of mounting and contact holes, and routing of the board out of the base material. The CAD system can be either Proteus, Eagle, Altium, or any user defined one and the output gerber files are converted to a G-code which drives the CNC machine. The hardware implementation consists of stepper motors to control the X-Y-Z axis movements. Arduino atmega 328 controls movements of the stepper motors according to the G-code.
Project Contacts:
W.G.C.A. Sankalpa (0714626097), K.R.S.M. Rathnasinghe (0703376254)
Updates
Won the best Undergraduate Project award of the department in 2018.
Project Video
Publications
- W.G.C.A. Sankalpa, T.P.K.Gamage, K.R.S.M. Rathnasinghe, R.M.G.P.Rathnasekara, “Low-Cost Eco-friendly Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Prototyping Machine”, IET-PATW, Faculty of Engineering, UOR, 2019.
- W.G.C.A. Sankalpa, T.P.K.Gamage, K.R.S.M. Rathnasinghe, R.M.G.P.Rathnasekara,”Accuracy of the Three Axes of a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Prototype Machine”, 6th Annual Research Symposium, Faculty of Engineering, UOR, 2019.
