Page 10
www.us-tech.com
TechWaTch
Pensar Otra Vez Rethinks Handlers for Elevated-Temp PCB Test
By James Figy, Senior Content Specialist, Beckhoff Automation
can either stick to traditional methods until no longer feasible or work to adopt leading-edge solu- tions. For Pensar Otra Vez, Inc. in Tucson, Arizona, the second option makes the most sense. The compa- ny’s name literally means “think again” in Spanish. So, when one long-term cus-
A
tomer, a tier-one automotive supplier, needed to build a new elevated-temperature PCB test handler in 2019, Pensar Otra Vez project manager Mike Ed- wards automatically went to the drawing board rather than copy- ing the existing design. A mechanical engineer by
training, Edwards founded his company as Pensar Tucson in 1994 after two decades working in the industry for Texas Instru- ments and Adept Robotics.
utomation technologies ad- vance and consumer trends change. Machine builders
“Then Adept purchased Pensar Tucson in 2000 to build fiber op- tic machinery, but when that in- dustry dropped off, we bought the company back in 2002,” he says. At the time, an employee who was a native Spanish speak- er joked about calling it Pensar Otra Vez. The name stuck.
Elevated-Temp Test Prior to redesigning the ele-
vated-temperature PCB test han- dlers, the company had produced a similar machine that operated at a slightly lower temperature that was installed in Bangalore, India, so it was prepared for the new challenge. More than 20 Pen- sar-built handler machines were already in operation at the cus- tomer’s plant in Texas, so there was a clear baseline to measure improvements. The handlers receive an in- coming PCB at room temperature,
High Performance Chemistry for Advanced Technologies
elevate the PCB temperature to approximately 230°F (110°C) and hold that temperature within three degrees during a functional test of the PCB to simulate oper- ating conditions in a vehicle. Since the test time is under 120 seconds, the test handler must quickly add heat to the product. Throughput is important, so the handler needs to maximize testing time versus handling time.
Turning Up the Heat The new elevated-tempera-
ture PCB test handler needed to increase performance, adhere to testing processes and reduce com- ponent costs. Inside the handler, the PCB products progress through four preheat stops on the conveyor to reach the test stop. At each preheat stop, infrared tem- perature sensors monitor temper- ature rise. Previously, this creat- ed a wiring challenge with signif- icant costs for labor and cables. In addition, the company wanted to update the system’s HMI for eas- ier operation and maintenance. The end user customer also want- ed the machines to improve data acquisition and analytics capabil- ities as a path toward IIoT and Industry 4.0 concepts. While the customer previ-
Pallaspeed® 990 Pure Palladium deposit for high-volume electronic applications.
• High Ductility/Low Stress • Bright Deposit • No Microcracking • Neutral pH • Wide Current Density Range • Superior Corrosion Resistance
ously completed the machine programming in-house, Pensar Otra Vez also took on this task. The original machine control log- ic was created in Visual Basic (VB) to run on a PC-based con- troller, but the automotive man- ufacturer wanted greater flexi- bility and access to performance data across the system. The engineering team at
Pensar Otra Vez collaborated with Dan Distefano, owner and senior software engineer at D2 Engineering to design and pro- gram the updated system. “One of the main goals was to provide access to all systems and devices through a single development environment,” Distefano says. “It was clear TwinCAT 3 automa- tion software and the EtherCAT industrial Ethernet system were the best fit, as they would also enable simple integration of third-party components.”
Learn more about Technic’s industry-leading plating technologies for tin, nickel, gold, silver and palladium at
www.technic.com
PC-Based Automation Integrated into Microsoft Vi-
sual Studio, TwinCAT 3 allows programming in computer science
standards and all IEC 61131-3 languages with object-oriented ex- tensions. The TwinCAT runtime is loaded on a C6030 ultra-com- pact Industrial PC (IPC) from Beckhoff that boasts a seventh- generation Intel® Core™ i3 processor with two cores and a 3.9 GHz clock speed. For a more ro- bust operator interface, the han- dler features a CP3921 multi- touch control panel. Through its openness, built-
in diagnostics and real-time com- munication performance, Ether- CAT improves machine design and operation by connecting all key machine components into one ecosystem. EtherCAT does not use IP addresses for network de- vices; instead, it automatically identifies and configures each de- vice on the network using Au- tomation Device Specification (ADS), the device- and fieldbus-in- dependent interface built into TwinCAT. Choice of network top - ol ogy, use of one-cable automation (OCA) via the EtherCAT P stan- dard and elimination of switches also helped in reducing machine footprint and wiring complexity. The handler uses a mix of IP20- rated EtherCAT I/O terminals, IP67-rated EtherCAT Box mod- ules and OCA solutions that pro- vide communication and power for field devices in a single cable. To load the PCBs through
the elevated-temperature test stations, the handler machine operates a conveyor powered by Beckhoff AS2022 stepper motors paired with AG2250 7-to-1 gear- boxes. DIN rail-mounted EL7047 stepper motor terminals power the two-phase stepper motors, delivering 8 to 48 VDC at 5A via a one-cable connection. After the design and build
were complete, the Beckhoff bene- fits included a reduction in con- trols design time of about 36 hours for the project. The inherent con- nectivity of Beckhoff PC-based controllers enabled greater sup- port and maintenance savings for the end user, and it simplified fu- ture upgrades and planned remote monitoring of the system for ener- gy efficiency and other corporate
goals based on big data. Contact: Beckhoff Automa-
tion, 13130 Dakota Avenue, Sav- age, MN 55378 % 952-428-7321 E-mail:
j.figy@
beckhoff.com Web:
www.beckhoffautomation.com r
July, 2021
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
