#686 – A Benchtop Pick and Place with Stephen Hawes
Stephen Hawes started Opulo, a company that builds the Lumen Benchtop Pick and Place. Opulo designs open source hardware and sane software for building your own PCBs in your lab.
The Amp Hour Electronics Podcast
January 21, 2025
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Show Notes
Welcome, Stephen Hawes!
- Chris interviewed Stephen back in 2020 for his second episode of The Contextual Electronics Podcast. It was when Stephen was still working at Formlabs and the Lumen/Opulo were a glimmer in his eye.
- The Lumen v4 is a Benchtop Pick and Place machine that works with OpenPNP
- Where are we in relation to reprap?
- Powered feeders
- Videos about eeprom
- KiCad pos file
- Can reliably place 0402
- Lumen v4 product page
- Motherboard of v4
- Running Marlin FW
- Head has two heads/nozzles
- Compare the Lumen to other methods (hand placed, paying for assembly)
- OHM (Open Hardware Manufacturing) podcast
- What industries are open?
- Thea Flowers (of Winterbloom synth fame) just joined the team
- Microscope
- Other tools
- Space constraints
- Stephen does a great job talking through many experiments and upcoming features on his youtube channel
- Prototyping PCBs with a fiber laser
- Micronix
- Making PCBs on a 3D printer (hack session with Stephen’s former employer)
- Timon (Skerutsch) makes double sided PCBs by inserting enameled wire through drilled holes
Is this the year you should get a Pick and Place? Stephen won’t say yes (but I will)