The Pick-and-Place: The Robots that Built the Modern World

These robots assemble every circuit board ever made and not one of them goes ding!
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Credits:
Interference SFX by Partners in Rhyme
Other SFX by www.zapsplat.com
Pick-and-place footage credited in video
Mendelssohn Wedding March by Spencerpiers, public domain

[@Isaacrl67]

Zack always amazes with absurdly adept alliterations.

[@83hjf]

they're fun but he keeps going and going and going... there's a point where they stop being fun

[@BenjaminSjavik]

Zach Zounds Zillions

[@bert_b13]

@@83hjf nope. (imho)

[@cameronrich2536]

I bewildered its berserker

[@thechumpsbeendumped.7797]

What's even more impressive is that he recorded the entire video using just one breath of air.

[@devnol]

Every time, no matter how interesting the subject of the video is (usually ranging from "a lot" to "very"), every. time. I'm left speechless by your script writing, subtle tomfoolery and incredible delivery. Keep up the good work, two-dimensional projection of a 3d cyborg person!

[@raddaks2039]

"And as everyone knows, inertia is a property of matter" You just made my day with that line, thx!

[@AdamFenton]

​@yoyohigh school drop out here, can someone explain this? I feel left out :/

[@Gruncival]

@@AdamFenton It's a reference from Bill Nye's show, the line is in the intro so any 90's kid that's watched enough episodes has it lurking like a sleeper cell waiting for neuron activation: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i6W5e5eGm9JjfJo

[@andybrice2711]

I think Zack is now obliged to add a bell to at least one of his 3D printers.

[@joshuamahon260]

I think he should make a video about it so we can do the same

[@curtkeisler7623]

It's also got to have a little voice that says, "Fries are done!"

[@curtkeisler7623]

This video is a linguistic masterpiece. Just listening to it is sufficient. This is the most in-depth video I have ever encountered that describes in exquisite detail what is going on in this process. Thank you so much!

[@thumbwarriordx]

There is some **REALLY** cool stock footage used in the intro to Short Circuit. Apparently you couldn't wave solder everything so they have these adorable little giant robots with a soldering iron, touching up the odd old-school throughhole components. He picks up the board, pokes it a few times, puts it back on the conveyor belt and picks up the next board. He's such a cute robot.

[@Slovenec5]

I can't find a video of it, could you point me in the right direction?

[@JaredConnell]

​@@Slovenec5 kzbin.info/www/bejne/n6jUi4d4e7KSe6c i think this is what he's talking about

[@atomicskull6405]

Still true, through hole components are still a thing especially in high power electronics. Also anything that has flexible leads like the power leads on an ESC has to be hand soldered.

[@Marsumaniac79]

"Feeding parts from a tube is a lot like soothing a crying baby". Zack, you are a poet.

[@haydenalbrecht]

Yes, it's out! Now I can send this to my friends so they can get a better actual idea of what my job is. It's hard to just talk about without any visuals

[@nifty_biscuit]

Love the recent trend of explaining how things in the industry work, like this one and the circuit board works

[@sonicsupersam7793]

I cant believe this video has lore now

[@QualityDoggo]

Excellent video as always! Let the machines go ding!

[@jackik1410]

the reel-estate joke is all the sweeter, after knowing what was going on behind the scenes

[@sonicsupersam7793]

fr

[@Veemo98]

As someone who actually worked with very similar machine even down to the software they use I can say that it is a series of small miracles that these things work so well. Although not mentioned in this video most companies that use those pick and places also have an automated optical inspection as well which is just as cool.

[@Osofreshrr3]

Yeup, currently programming through hole pcb production to than be inspected with our AOI.

[@mattymerr701]

LTT showed it in the micron video recently. It almost looks like an AFM with how it outputs even the depth of the solder joints. Pretty cool

[@Shin_Lona]

Absolutely. Repeatability is both a requirement and a limitation. Robots have precise movement, but there will always be inconsistency in the components. At this scale, the slightest deviation in alignment causes big problems. The current state of vision systems is truly impressive.

[@pickyyeeter]

I really enjoyed this video. I work in a similar facility, but don't get to see the pick-and-place machines in action very often I program flying probe testers, which are kind of like pick-and-place machines, but way stabbier. They allow us to do the equivalent of dozens of multimeter tests (and much more) per second. And they go ding when they're done

[@Ryan_Tidwell]

Pick and Place machines are awesome. I ran one many years ago. I didn't have machine vision which seems to be a game changer. If a part was picked up wrong it was placed wrong. There was a lot of rework but it was still a lot faster than hand soldering tiny smd parts. One thing Zack didn't mention is that the operators have to be on top of everything all the time. The robot makes things fast but the operator makes sure its correct. I worked next to a guy that would load the wrong value parts or the wrong parts and do an entire run. One "little" mistake can cost a lot when someone fat fingers something or mis-reads a label. Then you have 500 boards with the wrong parts....thats a bad day. Anyway super cool stuff. Thanks Freedman.

[@ledumpsterfire6474]

This happened frequently with him? Must've had it in good with the boss or something. I definitely would've fired his ass. Everyone makes mistakes, sometimes big ones, and that's okay.. as long as you actually learn from them. I wouldn't be keeping someone around who's incapable of that.

[@sustrasbk]

8:26 kinda ironic that as you're talking about the machine having to be accurate every time, there's mis placed loose capacitor in view :D

[@sergiomendez9231]

LOL! Good catch!

[@ermakers1297]

I did some work for a board build operation for a while doing manual soldering. They had pick and place machines for the surface mount components, wave soldering for some of the larger stuff and then a small army of hand solderers for doing larger connectors and such. Always amazing to watch. Been wanting to build one myself for a while.

[@loneeagle8903]

Thanks for this video as I worked in the Motorola manufacturing plant in Harvard IL back in 1997-1998 I was in materials and had to make sure that the line (Siemens pnp machines) had the parts needed and to count the parts we had left in stock. The line worked better and faster when left to run the same boards longer

[@AtreidaeChibiko]

Loving this naming convention. I worked at an ISP where we tried to name ever server after Futurama characters. Unfortunately any servers with "bot" in the name would be considered naughty. Naming a mail server "hedonismbot" wasn't a great idea

[@billgraney]

Thank you for the entertaining and instructive videos that are so well produced and narrated.

[@vaderman212]

I am absolutely tickled at the names these big bois have, as well as their corresponding namesake plastered on them somewhere. Seeing Trogdor, Marvin the Martian, and Ultra Magnus on some goofy industrial machine is great.

[@susinator]

Don't forget the crushinator.

[@Shin_Lona]

You have to name your robots and build a relationship with them... for when Skynet comes online.

[@JosephCornishV]

Ding! This has been a great video explaining modern board fabrication. Thanks!

[@RomanticNightDreamer]

I started watching out of curiosity and thought I would close the video after 5' but I just couldn't stop watching. Amazing job, I loved the deep dive in the automation machines and the script was brilliant as was the Patreon read out xD

[@slowgoins]

Hell yeah! The type of surprise collaboration I love to see. I have a deep respect for any company that makes a solid effort to make great documentation and educational prices. While the doc libraries at Sparkfun and Adafruit aren’t perfect they definitely helped my hobby life take another rad turn in my 30s.

[@ledumpsterfire6474]

@Zackfreedman712 Reported.

[@kens4684]

SWEET! Glad things worked out for you guys…. You never fail to amaze. Good job Brooke!😂

[@isaiahhiggins]

I just came from the flood saga video, I would've never know this video was made under sub optimal circumstances! Your dedication to quality blows me away! Thanks for the amazing content! Etc...!

[@Eric_Wolfe-Schulte]

Absolutely worth the wait, that was fascinating!

[@GummiKari]

The Crushinator does not actually have a dinger to ding, dang. Best pun yet, 10/10.

[@paulpeterson7853]

I used to run a production line for hdd controllers, based around a 2 head, 20 nozzle shooter style Fuji placer... your video was like a trip down memory lane! Thanks!

[@MichaelButlerC]

ok learning about this totally reminds me of factorio where I always need to print more green and red circuit boards

[@Mousoukyou]

I'm... absolutely amazed by how well the solder paste reflow clean up. I've never seen the before and after, just a lot of the after. Wow.

[@shadowtrell9961]

These machines are honstly kind of badass!! Cool vid!

[@mcrsit]

Your narration was ahead of the machines. Well done and thank you!

[@bakedbeings]

Fun fact: 7 recordings of a facility just like this one, finishing pcbs for makita, comprised the first ever dub step album. Its sound was of course built on the drum n bass productions of earlier lines.

[@TsarBlin]

Zack is the kind of guy who would accept becoming an Adeptus Mechanicus in a heartbeat

[@LD1345]

Even in death, I serve the omnisiah

[@delecti]

It's interesting seeing how this is done on such high scales. I worked a temp job back in 2007 doing basically that same process by hand. In front of me was a wall of bins full of components, and a conveyor carried boards past. I had a diagram, and manually placed maybe a half-dozen components into each board before passing it along to the next station, and at the end of the line it went through a wave soldering machine. If I still did that job, I would feel very inadequate after seeing Magnus at work. Actually it looks like there was a brief view of a similar process around 22:11, though mine involved more sitting and less manual soldering.

[@slappymchappy]

this company has the best names for its machines

[@kinematic_InMotion]

Autonomous automation and autonomy is the future of autocracy! Thanks for another great video zack!

[@vw9753]

Zack you inpsired me to get a printer this week and really dive into my first maker tech. Thankyou for this channel, it always makes my week better when we get a post.

[@scottwilliams895]

Zach, your writing is always absolutely astounding!

[@patrickschless9992]

Thank you for the ding. I needed that closure

[@emj-music]

Thanks for the video, it was a very interesting watch!

[@emj-music]

+ you're funny.

[@nikthefix8918]

Great video - but you left out the kitchen sink! As makers we are very lucky that some of the most cutting edge tech is available to us. I'm amazed that the barrier to entry is almost non-existent these days. Thanks to the big boys for recognising and supporting an ever growing DIY market.

[@theftking]

Real men mill boards themselves with their teeth and assemble them with their elbows. As someone who doesn't know anything about electronic hardware components and soldering and stuff, I found this video very informative. Now I understand what all these ASMR board repair shorts are showing me.

[@andypodmore6721]

That was a really interesting watch. Thanks for posting

[@yoimsho]

Never knew SparkFun is in Colorado! If only Colorado Springs could get a decent computer parts store.. I'll digress with, thanks for the awesome video, Zach!

[@EternalGamingNet]

Very fun video, always fun to see behind the curtain and see how things work. Fascinating!

[@DEtchells]

Fascinating, detailed piece, big props! I got to see some of the next-level PnP machines in Sony’s camera factory outside Bangkok, Thailand a few years back. Mind-boggling is the only adjective that suits; the rotary multi-heads moved so fast they were literally a blur, yet they were placing passives that had to be 0201 if not smaller, and ICs with what must have been 0.025 pin pitch. (I dunno if 0.025 pitch is a thing or not, but they were *dang* fine.) Blazing speed and sub-sub mm accuracy 🤯

[@encryptedmaze]

8:25 "dead center first shot" and there's a component just bouncing around in the bottom right lmao

[@AaronEB]

This is a brilliant explainer! Thanks for making this.

[@JohnForTheWin]

Incredibly interesting and entertaining. Another wonderful video!

[@MrJozza65]

Thanks for the in-depth look at those machines; they are amazing. I do think that every massive industrial robotic factory machine should be equipped with a small mechanical bell to indicate completion of each task with a "ding"

[@Felenari]

This was a fantastic one. Good watch ty.

[@DavidMeggers]

I skipped back through the section you told me not to skip forward. Many times. Love that solder paste.

[@piconano]

Your content and editing skills are second to none.

[@reprinted3D]

Fun and informative. Thanks, Zack!

[@TheOmniscientCow]

The Marvin Martian Gundam print out taped to the machine cracked me up

[@UKsystems]

Im building one for mid-scale manufacture and the precision required is amazing

[@LTVG.]

Nice to know one of my favorite youtubers lives near me. I've always loved watching your videos, keeps me sane working through my EE degree. Keep up the great work!

[@Fosterforged]

Scrotto Saggins had me ROLLING!!!

[@Lusanagi]

This gave me Vietnam flashbacks of when I worked in a Harman production plant (I was at engineering and luckily I didn't work on the PCBs design or anything related, but I saw them EVERY DAY for 3 years straight) I think it's a real insult that Trolling Thunder didn't make an appearance

[@Steve_evets]

this video is extremely interesting and absolutely packed full of information i will never need again in my life

[@jamestaylor5372]

amazing video. thanks for taking us along

[@monad_tcp]

9:27 you forgot to say the biggest risk with those small things, inhaling them. humans are pretty big and have a gigantic air suction thing

[@paulohl7370]

This is so cool! Thank you for the amazing video, I love learning stuff with your channel

[@kocy33]

Really liked this episode. Thank you for this edutainment video. Wasn't expected.

[@beardsplaining]

Always excited to see Sparkfun in a video. I’ve followed them for many years now 😊

[@dtibor5903]

Just saw video, they don't have any ESD protection at all, not even the basics. You will get boards with ESD damaged components

[@beardsplaining]

@@dtibor5903 I’ve been using them for 10+ years and have never had an issue on any product or kit I’ve received.

[@unionse7en]

Magnus picks up parts at a perpetual rate as prodigious as Zach puts out participles.

[@jmunozar]

hahahahahahaahahah I love really love the last part of the episodes with the patron names, specially the one that just propossed you marriage xD

[@Rscapeextreme447]

Dude I gotta say, I absolutely love your videos

[@peepopalaber]

I can watch pick and place machines for hours, so satisfying.

[@mattymerr701]

I love how the fact that FR4 fluoresces under UV provides the perfect way for PnP machines to see exactly where they are Edit: ayy, you brought it up half way through

[@hellothere6627]

I worked in a place like this for a while, I could get over how incredible these machines are. I still cannot get over how every circuit board is either put through an industrial dish washer, or a normal dish (smaller batches) washer (special water to avoid corrosion) this is to clean off leftover flux Electronics and water are not things we would ever thing of going well together, but it is not actually a problem if there is no power, hence why most circuit boards have been throughly doused in water

[@Aimsucks_]

have had the opportunity to work with panasonic pick and place machines and they're some of the coolest things in the world

[@Baja555b]

One other cool and somewhat new development is to reduce the components required to be placed by building the resistors and capacitors into the layers of the pcb itself. This reduces material cost and pick and place time. Somewhere I have an example board with a whole bunch of caps and resistors which is also transparent so you can see them as well.

[@Sad_King_Billy]

Thanks for the soldering tips! I'm getting ready to start my first robotics project

[@jvleugels]

Rip to that capacitor being flung out of place at 8:26 . Was a perfect example for the next segment. But seems like you missed it.

[@keatoncampbell820]

wait did someone actually just propose through patreon? I'm impressed by the resourcefulness.

[@grandgab]

Always a treat to watch you're video.

[@EposVox]

This was amazing

[@norkshit]

imagine going back in time and showing this video to an electronics engineer in the 80’s… their head would explode

[@pjpleiss]

Sweet! I didn't know sparkfun was in Colorado. Thanks for the tour and explanation.

[@ChrisFloofyKitsune]

23:50 so what I'm hearing is that Zack is probably going to buy one of these smol pick and place machines, probably to help with his custom keyboard projects or some such

[@bachaddict]

I immediately thought of the keyboard project, if he's going to sell assembled boards for that!

[@Beakerzor]

13:57 that loose part on the right side of the board triggers my OCD

[@WKerrick]

what a fantastic video! very interesting stuff

[@richienko2]

Poor good succ, he is meant to stay Zack's patreon for the rest of his life. It's chef's kiss of epilogue.

[@smit5983]

You and Junifero man. The humor is right on my funny bone

[@nicholasstauffer5830]

"How It's Made" on steroids and crack... I love Zack's use of the English language! It reminds me of my internal monologues. lol

[@ThisGuyHere17]

This Video made me write down to have a DING! when a full step is completed on a automated machine I shall build after my Degree.

[@bobbie9066]

Thank you for shining a light on the shocking lack of dings in the pick&place process of creating PCBs ;)

[@offsetmakerlab7514]

That was great! Thank you 🙂

[@rdyer8764]

The only thing more fun than Zack's alliterations, is listening to him at 1.5X!

[@chucknades117]

Thats a bridge 2 far for me

[@eponinesg]

That would stress me out. The only time I hear Zack talking at 1.5x something is going wrong.

[@rdyer8764]

@@eponinesg I ALWAYS turn him up to 1.5. His alliterative style rolls off the tongue at warp speed. It's almost magical.

[@okcrc]

I'm extremely disappointed in the utter lack of dings! :( Needs more 27:27

[@LaneBeScrolling]

11:18 wow, not even your wink got a *ding*. These are dark times.

[@BadgerBishop]

That proposal in the patron acknowledgements!

[@dedkeny]

Thanks Sparkfun!

[@Beakerzor]

11:11 thanks for keeping it real

[@r4dr4bbit46]

You have my DING of approval. Solid delivery boet!

[@GingerNingerGames]

The thing I love the most about this kind of machinery is there exists a prototype that was entirely assembled by hand, then it was likely used to build it's own components.

[@macgyver9134]

One of the only tubers that I don't increase the playback speed for!