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Introduction Safety Precautions Operating the Machine 1- Getting Started Operating the Machine 2- PCB Printing Operation the Machine 3- PCB Soldering Operation the Machine 4- PCB Drilling References
Introduction
Tasnim Hussain | Electronics Engineer Intern 06 | 04 | 2018
Q2| Q2-7| Voltera V-One | PCB Printer DESIGN SOFTWARES (OPEN SOURCE | LICENCES) : Voltera V-One (https://support.voltera.io/hc/en-us/articles/115004264687) PLATFORMS: FAB FOUNDATION REFERENCES:
MACHINE DESCRIPTION Voltera V-One is a precision PCB printing tool especially designed to provide a faster way to prototype electronics. It uses special materials and has a very simple functioning scheme. Unlike PCB design machines, the V-One uses conductive ink to build the electronics circuit. Basically, the V-One consists of a printing area of dimensions 128mm x 105mm where the PCBs are manufactured and a moving carriage where the probe and dispensers are mounted. Moreover, the V-One comes with 2 mL cartridges of printing material: conductive ink and solder paste. https://www.voltera.io/product/technology/ https://support.voltera.io/hc/en-us/articles/115004266327-2-Printer-Setup
The V-One Drill Attachment: The V-One drill attachment is an additional tool to extend the functionalities of the V-One printer to allow drilling holes. The drill attachment comes with the following tools:
For more details please refer to the link: https://support.voltera.io/hc/en-us/articles/115005072813-2-Drill-Setup
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Tasnim Hussain | Electronics Engineer Intern 06 | 04 | 2018
INTRODUCTION TO: Voltera V-One Software The software associated with the V-One is called “Voltera V-One”, it is user friendly interface and very simple to use. Additionally, each step is illustrated in small screen at the top right corner. The software is free to download and is available for windows and Mac OS. To install a copy of the software visit the following link: https://support.voltera.io/hc/en-us/articles/115004264687 Added to that, the Voltera software is compatible with different CAD tools for electronics design such as EAGLE, Altium, KiCad, Mentor Graphics, Cadence, DipTrace and many others. However, the circuit to be uploaded to the software should be in the format of Gerber file. MACHINE MANUAL (VENDOR): https://support.voltera.io/hc/en-us/articles/115002006953-User-Manual LINK VIDEO QBIC FAB LAB | VENDOR: Pending
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Safety Precautions
Tasnim Hussain | Electronics Engineer Intern 06 | 04 | 2018
SAFETY PRECAUTIONS: Before operating the V-One, there are some important safety precautions should be considered. Printing Platform: The V-One has a heated bed used as a platform with a maximum temperature of 240 °C. This is used to serve multiple purposes, one will be to dry the printing material and the other to reow the solder paste after components assembly. Hands should be kept clear when the V-One printing surface is hot. Printing materials: The V-One comes with printing material and solder paste. Keep away from eyes or mouth and wash hands after handling. Sharp Tools: The V-One accessories include sharp tools and pinch points like the probe, dispensing nozzle and drill bits. Moving Parts: The V-One has electromechanical parts the move in three axes. Hence, hands should be kept clear.
For more details visit the webpage: https://support.voltera.io/hc/en-us/articles/115004160628-1-Safety-Guidelines When using V-One drill attachment, added to the general safety rules there are some critical safety precautions associated with drilling process should be considered listed as follows: Spinning Motors: The V-One drill has sharp parts spinning at high speeds. It is always crucial to mount the V-One Drill properly on the V-One before powering. Never handle the V-One Drill when the motor is spinning, and wait for the motor to stop. Keep hands away from moving parts all the time. Eye Protection: Eye protection is highly required when operating with V-One Drill to protect the eyes from any ejected matter. Dust Hazard: Drilling some materials may release particles or byproducts which are harmful when inhaled. To lessen this risk, only Voltera-supplied substrates should be used, and a dust extractor or dust mask when drilling. For further details refer to the link: https://support.voltera.io/hc/en-us/articles/115005052354-1-Safety-Guidelines
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Operating the Machine 1- Getting Started
Tasnim Hussain | Electronics Engineer Intern 06 | 04 | 2018
Make your PCB layout design ready and export the “Top” layer and “Top Paste” layer as Gerber files.
The Voltera V- One is plugged into a wall outlet with AC voltage = 240 V and 50Hz. Then the power button to turn ON the machine and the USB cable is connected to a computer.
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Tasnim Hussain | Electronics Engineer Intern 06 | 04 | 2018
When the software is opened, in the ďŹ rst few seconds it will start scanning the printers connected to it.
After few seconds, the above screen will appear showing four different options to operate the Voltera V-One. The following sections (2-4) will explain the steps needed to operate the V-One using its different functions mentioned above.
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Operating the Machine 2- PCB Printing
Tasnim Hussain | Electronics Engineer Intern 06 | 04 | 2018
For more details refer to the “Learn More” links above or to: https://support.voltera.io/hc/en-us/articles/115005825187 For simplicity, select “Simple” and follow up with the tutorial.
In this step, the type of the ink needed for printed is selected.
In this step, the PCB layout is uploaded in the form of a Gerber file. e.g. , the top layer of a PCB design is uploaded to the V-One software by selecting “Choose File”next to “Ink”.
In this step, the “Hello World” circuit top layer will be loaded and displayed.
In this step, the calibration limit switches are cleaned and the nozzle of the conductive ink dispenser is checked to ensure proper calibration and quality printing.
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Tasnim Hussain | Electronics Engineer Intern 06 | 04 | 2018
In this step, the blank board is clamped over the printing area.
After mounting the probe, the smart V-One starts positioning the circuit.
In this step, the probe will measure the height of the material at different points over the blank board.
After removing the probe, the conductive ink dispenser is mounted to start printing. Yet it should be primed and calibrated before being used for printing.
For more details about priming the conductive ink dispenser check: https://support.voltera.io/hc/en-us/articles/115004294268-3 -Hello-World-Print
This step is done to conďŹ rm the quality of conductive ink dispensing before printing the board.
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Tasnim Hussain | Electronics Engineer Intern 06 | 04 | 2018
Printing takes few minutes.
The circuit while being printed as the V-One is dispensing the conductive ink over few minutes.
In this stage, the PCB is baked to solidify the conductive ink. The PCB is ipped carefully to be facing the hot surface of the V-One printer..
In this step, the probe will measure the height of the material at different points over the blank board.
Final result after printing and baking.
Now the board is prepared before soldering and solder paste dispenser should be ready to use.
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Operating the Machine 3- PCB Soldering
Tasnim Hussain | Electronics Engineer Intern 06 | 04 | 2018
Select “Solder” to apply solder paste to the PCB. Please refer to the link: https://support.voltera.io/hc/en-us/articles/1150044148484-Hello-World-Solder-Paste
The type of the paste is selected.
Again the Gerber files are uploaded but this time, the “Top Paste” layer.
Always quality checklist comes before probing and calibration.
The PCB is clamped over the printing surface.
After clamping the probe, the V-One aligns the PCB by detecting two measuring points and using this to map the location of the remaining pads on the PCB.
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Tasnim Hussain | Electronics Engineer Intern 06 | 04 | 2018
The alignment can be done perfectly by moving the probe through the keyboard arrows. Most importantly is to measure the point only after the probe is tapping on the exact middle of the pad.
After confirming the alignment, the probe measures the height of the board by tapping on different points. It is always important to go back if the board accidentally moved physically or the alignment was not proper.
Now solder paste dispenser is primed the same way as the conductive ink dispenser. After that, the solder paste is applied to the pads of all SMDs on the “Hello World” circuit.
After adding the solder paste, the board is ready for assembly. https://support.voltera.io/hc/en-us/articles/1150044149685-Hello-World-Reflow
“Heat” is selected and then “Reflow solder paste”.
Now the board is ready for testing!!
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Operating the Machine 4- PCB Drilling
Tasnim Hussain | Electronics Engineer Intern 06 | 04 | 2018
Select “Drill” to establish a PCB with holes. Here, the drill attachment should be prepared with drill bits set.
“Simple” is selected as the holes are to be drilled in a blank board for simplicity.
The files are downloaded form https://support.voltera.io/hc/en-us/articles/360000744393-3 -Punk-Console-Drilling then uploaded again to the V-One solftware.
The sample board appears after uploading.
The board is clamped over the printing surface.
To drill holes, the uploaded files has all details regarding holes diameter and position on the board. The V-One software shows the different drill bits that need to be drill all holes.
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Tasnim Hussain | Electronics Engineer Intern 06 | 04 | 2018
Before selecting “Drill”, make sure that to wear safety glasses.
The board while being drilled.
After finishing drilling, the remaining small holes are drilled using small drill bit.
After drilling all the disposed material is cleaned using vacuum cleaner.
Now after drilling is finished, the board is printed (top side and then bottom side). https://support.voltera.io/hc/en-us/articles/360000783173-4 -Punk-Console-Printing
The type of the board is “Aligned” as there are holes.
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Tasnim Hussain | Electronics Engineer Intern 06 | 04 | 2018
Final result after printing and baking after following the same steps as mentioned in the “PCB Printing” section.
Now soldering is done by following the three steps mentioned above. https://support.voltera.io/hc/en-us/articles/360000830274-5Punk-Console-Assembly
Rivets are inserted after burnishing as mentioned above.
In this step, rivets are being fixed into the holes.
The way how to fix the rivets using the rivet tools.
The final result before soldering.
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Tasnim Hussain | Electronics Engineer Intern 06 | 04 | 2018
Now to solder, it should be considered that surface mount components should be soldered ďŹ rst using the solder paste the same way as mentioned in “PCB Solderingâ€? section.
On the other hand, through hole components are soldered using the soldering wire provided with Voltera and the soldering iron adjusted at the temperatures mentioned above.
The PCB after drilling, printing, soldering and assembly.
Testing the circuit.
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References
Tasnim Hussain | Electronics Engineer Intern 06 | 04 | 2018
Maintenance: https://support.voltera.io/hc/en-us/articles/115004414408-6-Maintenance
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