PCBuddy

PCBuddy, an original automated soldering device, is one of my all-time favorite projects that I've worked on. Given the incredibly dexterous nature of soldering (particularly onto a PCB), my team and I hoped to create an assistive machine that could provide more accessibility to people with tendonitis or motor control/posture issues. Although automated solders did exist in the market, we aimed to build a much more cost-effective one by repurposing a 3D-printer gantry.

To control the device, we powered the gantry using three stepper motors to achieve precision. We also installed a camera onto a fixed point of the frame, such that when the user clicked on where he/she wanted solder to be dispensed on the UI/UX side, the program could move the extruder head accordingly. Unexpected challenges arose when trying to install a motor to automatically dispense solder, as well as when trying to facilitate efficient communication between the Arduino and the camera; however the final prototype could dispense solder with some degree of accuracy.

Unfortunately, many of the documentation photos of the finished prototype have been lost to time... the snippets of the CAD model that remain are shown below, and here is our team's final report:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10KujOHoy7Luxpg9KBIG_wZOaO3RcPFt0/view?usp=sharing