Having seen an old manual Excellon PCB drilling machine in action recently, I got to thinking about an up-to-date version suitable for home construction. The nice thing about the Excellon was the large screen showing the magnified pad with cross- hairs, so that the drill could be exactly centred on the pad. One way to achieve this might be to use a webcam with a suitable lens attached underneath the PCB, with some software to create the cross-hairs. Alignment of the system could be achieved by lowering the drill with a bit in it, so that it was in focus, and moving the webcam/lens in the X and Y planes until the tip of the drill was centred. Centering a pad, then operating the drill, should result in the hole being exactly in the pad centre. It might be easier mechanically to mount the camera horizontally, and use a 45 degree mirror beneath the drill table. I might try this with the rather crummy Microcraft drill and stand I use. Refinements like an automatic clamp for the PCB, and automatic drill feed, could be added, of course. Any comments? Leon -- Leon Heller, G1HSM leon_heller@... http://www.geocities.com/leon_heller
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Drilling machine idea
2003-07-09 by Leon Heller