LitePlacer.com forums

Hi all,
I'm in the final wiring phase of the LitePlacer, so the software configuration is yet to come, but meanwhile I started wondering about the consequences of a missed pick.
As far as I can see there's no feedback from the vacuum pump to the control board, so I assume that only a visual inspection of the final result will verify the complete population of the board.
My idea would be to replace - once the machine is correctly tuned and running - the vacuum pump with an ejector of suitable size connected to a compressed air line. Being the ejector equipped with a feedback contact the resulting status could trigger a "pick fail" event, but it is not clear to me whether the software is able to correctly acknowlege the fail event and allow some sort of recovery procedure.
Did anyone deal with this issue, and, if yes, could kindly let me know the approach used?

Thanks a lot!
Roberto - Italy

It is also possible to add a vacuum sensor and check its value after a pick. This has been tried in the past and there is clear difference with empty nozzle and a nozzle with a part in it. The software doesn't support this, but if you want to go that route, I'm happy to assist you in integrating this to the LitePlacer software.