LitePlacer.com forums

> can easily crash the software by pressing buttons on an unloaded job list because of null values.

I noticed this too. WIll be fixed.

Hello to all,
I use Target 3001 for design pcbs:
http://ibfriedrich.com
Have someone experiences with this software and LitePlacer?

best regards
Michael

Can it generate a pick and place file? It might be called something else, I've seen "assembly" and "centroid" and "placement". If so, please send me a sample and a 1:1 PDF of the PCB for comparision. (If the PDF is a problem, even a screenshot or gerber file is useful.)

I use Proteus for my CAD creations and it has a PnP output setting as part of the ARES software. The format of the PnP file was not 100% correct as the dimensions were in thou rather then mm and the order was not quite right. Using a simple PHP script I was able to convert the PnP file and make it work correctly. I'm willing to share the script if anyone would like a copy but it's not that complicated.

One quick question, when I load my converted file it gives an error saying fiducials could not be found. I tried using lots of different Reference, and part names to try and hook into this but so far haven't been able to. Can anyone tell me how this is done via the CSV input file?

I'm sorry, this should have been in the documentation. Fiducial names start with FI or FID. You can also indicate them manually, so the error is more of a warning.

(Edit: It is simpler than I first wrote.)

I use Layo1 - ancient DOS software. It creates a space-separated file with fixed width fields. The unit used is 1/1280". This file can easily be converted to CSV format, and 1/1280" converted to mm. But one potential problem is that the origin is the upper left corner, rather than the lower left. Can that be supported?

mcs_5 wrote:I use Layo1 - ancient DOS software. It creates a space-separated file with fixed width fields. The unit used is 1/1280". This file can easily be converted to CSV format, and 1/1280" converted to mm. But one potential problem is that the origin is the upper left corner, rather than the lower left. Can that be supported?

Option A: Keep the board orientation as it is in your CAD. For this, you need to set board offset in Y equal to board size, so that the machine origin moves to upper left. From machine point of view Y is now down, so you need to make your Y coordinates negative.

Option B: Turn the board 90 degrees counter-clockwise. This would get the origin to the PCB zero, but now, you have to exchange X and Y coordinates.

Maybe either option might be easiest to do with the same script/program that does your CSV+mm conversion? Of course, up to you which is easier for your mind.

Here's file from Target 3001 software. It's done on default PnP settings (I only changed to generate code for SMD only, as you can see in the settings window).
Now !all! I need is to put liteplacer together and test, if it works ...

Regards,
Gregor

Hi, Juha!

Today I tried to run first (test) job and it worked quite well (well, have problems with free component, but not an issue right now).
Now I tried to do some real work, but I can't get proper file format, that Liteplacer would accept.
In my Target file I only have option to get X and Y, where your header file has Xmin, Xcenter, Xmax (etc)

Demo job format:
Designator,"Footprint","Mid X","Mid Y","Ref X","Ref Y","Pad X","Pad Y","Layer","Rotation","Comment"
R4,"0805","22.25mm","20.25mm","22.25mm","20.25mm","21.4273mm","20.725mm","T","330.00","300R"

Target output format:
*No,"Value/Spec/Package","X","Y","Rotation",Side,"Name"
5,"100µF//SMD_R7X7_ELKO","7.62","64.14","90.0",Top,"C5"

Is it possible to set this in LP software somewhere?

Regards,
Gregor

If I unerstand your file right, this is the first line:
*No,"Value/Spec/Package","X","Y","Rotation",Side,"Name"

And this is an example of the following lines:
5,"100µF//SMD_R7X7_ELKO","7.62","64.14","90.0",Top,"C5"

Correct? if so:

Can you divide the Value/Spec/Package into Value and Package? Your screenshot makes me think you can. At the very least, a search and replace editor could do it ( // => "," ).

Then, your header line would be:
*No,"Value","Spec","Package","X","Y","Rotation",Side,"Name" (doesn't matter if the "Spec" field is there or not).

After that, change the "Name" in the header to "Part".

So you get:
*No,"Value","Package","X","Y","Rotation",Side,"Part"
5,"100µF","SMD_R7X7_ELKO","7.62","64.14","90.0",Top,"C5"

This would read in. Please see page http://www.liteplacer.com/input-file-format/ for details and your options.

> Is it possible to set this in LP software somewhere?

Not at the moment; a user editable string table is not a bad idea at all - but not there, at least yet.