International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering and Technology (IJECET)

Volume 7, Issue 6, November-December 2016, pp. 72–77, Article ID: IJECET_07_06_010

Available online at
http://www.iaeme.com/IJECET/issues.asp?JType=IJECET&VType=7&IType=6
ISSN Print: 0976-6464 and ISSN Online: 0976-6472
© IAEME Publication

PCB SOLDERING MACHINE

Raghuvir Shirodkar, Rohan Kumar, Shubham Tikare, Tanmay Zantye
Department of Electronics Engineering, Fr. Conceicao Rodrigues College of Engineering,
Bandra, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

ABSTRACT
Soldering is a labour intensive process, which often requires an intermediate level of technical
expertise to execute properly. We aim to create a machine that will cater to our needs of precise
soldering at a fast pace. Our project will demonstrate a PCB being soldered using an XY plotter
through the use of temperature controlled soldering iron setup.
Key words: G-code, linear guide ways, servo motor, solder feeder, soldering iron, stepper motors,
temperature controlled, XY table.
Cite this Article: Raghuvir Shirodkar, Rohan Kumar, Shubham Tikare and Tanmay Zantye,
PCB Soldering Machine, International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering
and Technology, 7(6), 2016, pp. 72–77.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJECET/issues.asp?JType=IJECET&VType=7&IType=6

1. INTRODUCTION
The process of soldering requires some skillset to correctly implement. Not everyone has the time and/or
patience to learn the art of precise soldering. We propose the creation of a PCB soldering machine that will
fully automate the process. The machine will include an XY plotter powered by a belt and pulley system
which is actuated by stepper motors, for correct positioning of the PCB to be soldered. Then, the soldering
arm extension fixed over the XY table will actuate and solder the junction. All stepper motors used in the
X-Y plotter and soldering arm extension are driven through an arduino via the A4988 motor driver for
increased precision and stability. The soldering arm extension consists of two sections, a temperature
controlled soldering iron and a solder feeder. Thus, the basic principle is to correctly gauge the position to
be soldered, move the XY table over to those coordinates through stepper actuation, and then wait for the
soldering arm extension to solder the junction.

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 PCB Soldering Machine

2. TEMPERATURE CONTROLLED SOLDERING IRON

Figure 2.1 Temperature control circuit

The above circuit represents how temperature control has been added to a simple soldering iron. The
range of temperature can be varied by varying the hysteresis loop of the Schmitt Trigger provided the
temperature does not exceed the range of thermocouple. The ON/OFF action is provided by the TRIAC.
An opt coupler is also used to isolate the AC and DC ground potentials of the TRIAC and Schmitt
Trigger circuit which would otherwise be short circuited.

3. SOLDER FEEDER

Solder feeder is a mechanism designed to feed the solder wire onto the PCB [7]. The amount of solder
fed is accurately con-trolled by is a servo motor. The servo motor drives a gear which in turn is
interconnected with another gear. The solder wire is fed in between these gears thereby constituting a
linear actuator.

4. SOLDERING IRON ASSEMBLY

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 Raghuvir Shirodkar, Rohan Kumar, Shubham Tikare and Tanmay Zantye

A flange nut and threaded screw is used to obtain linear actuation for the soldering iron. A stepper motor is
used to drive the assembly. The motor is connected to the threaded screw via a coupler. The flange nut is
fixed on the screw threads and moves linearly due to lack of freedom as the screw rotates. The soldering
iron is mounted on the flange nut via a suitable support. The temperature control circuit PCB is also
mounted beside the soldering iron. The flange nut assembly provides very precise motions. This
mechanism is used to drive the soldering iron in the Z direction. The stepper motor is driven by an arduino
[8],[9]. The estimated torque requirement for this action is 4 kg-cm.. We use NEMA-17 stepper motor for
this purpose which provides a torque of 4.5 kg-cm and least step angle of 1.8o

5. X-AXIS ASSEMBLY
The PCB will be positioned in the appropriate X co-ordinate using guide rails, linear bearings and a stepper
motor. The two guide rails are positioned 20cm apart on the wooden base of 40cm X 40cm. The Y-axis
assembly carrying the PCB translates along the guide rails with the help of linear bearings. This linear
actuation is done by the belt and pulley system powered by stepper motor which is driven by an arduino
[8],[9].We use a comparatively higher torque stepper motor for the X-axis since it carries the weight of the
Y-axis system as well as the PCB.

6. Y-AXIS ASSEMBLY
This system is similar to the X-Axis assembly with few modifications. The Y-Axis assembly translates on
the X-Axis assembly. The PCB will be positioned in the appropriate Y co-ordinate using linear rails, linear
bearings and a stepper mo-tor. The two guide rails are positioned 8cm apart on the wood-en base of 40cm
X 10cm. The PCB is kept on the Y-Axis assembly. With the combination of both X-axis and Y-Axis
assembly, the PCB is accurately placed in the desired X-Y co-ordinates.

7. Z-AXIS ASSEMBLY
The Z-Axis assembly consists of the soldering iron assembly and the solder feeder. After the PCB is
brought to the desired X-Y co-ordinates by the X-Y plotter, the Z-Axis assembly comes into play. The
soldering iron firsts descends onto the PCB junction through the action of stepper motor driven threaded
screw. The solder feeder then feeds the right amount of solder which comes in contact with the hot
soldering iron and successfully solders the junction. The soldering iron then retracts after the point has
been soldered.

8. STEPPER MOTOR DRIVER

Stepper motors typically require up to 2A current whereas any arduino which is typically used for driving
stepper motors can provide a maximum output current of 40mA.Thus using a motor driver serves the
following purposes:
Motor drivers act as current amplifiers to provide the required current to the stepper motor. These chips
also provide fractional steps. This smoothens out the motion of the stepper motor. Without fractional steps,
step-per motors have a tendency to vibrate or resonate at certain RPMs.

Motor Driver Chip A4988

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 PCB Soldering Machine

We have selected motor driver chip A4988 due to its following advantages:
• Five different step resolutions: full-step, half-step, quarter-step, eighth-step, and sixteenth-step.
• Adjustable current control lets you set the maximum current output with a potentiometer, which lets you use
voltages above your stepper motor’s rated voltage to achieve higher step rates.
• Intelligent chopping control that automatically selects the correct current decay mode (fast decay or slow
decay).
• Over-temperature thermal shutdown, under-voltage lockout, and crossover-current protection.

9. X-Y PLOTTER PROGRAM FLOWCHART

10. RESULTS
• Accuracy of the X-Y Plotter:
Step angle of Stepper Motor = 1.8°
Number of steps / revolution = 200
Diameter of motor shaft = 5mm
Precision of the X-Y Plotter = Circumference / No. of revolutions
= 2*pi*2.5*1.8 / 360
= 0.0785mm
Pin width of a general DIP = 2.5mm
Thus, the pins of any DIP which is the closest pin distance among all components in through hole
soldering can be comfortably soldered.

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 Raghuvir Shirodkar, Rohan Kumar, Shubham Tikare and Tanmay Zantye

• The temperature controller circuit was tested and the temperature of the soldering iron tip was restricted to
the pre-defined range by the switching action of the TRIAC.
The table for Schmitt triggers output voltage and temperature is given below:

VOLTAGE TEMPERATURE
9.6-10mV 180 °C
10.2-10.7mV 190 °C
10.7-11.3mV 200 °C
11.3-11.8mV 210 °C
11.8-12.4mV 220 °C
12.4-13mV 230 °C
Output of temperature control circuit.
• The machine was tested for soldering small and medium sized PCBs and gave excellent and accurate results.
• This machine soldered small and medium sized PCBs in approximately 5 minutes.

11. CONCLUSION
This project has successfully served as a platform for soldering PCBs at a small scale. The time consumed
and errors introduced by manual soldering have been greatly reduced. Exact range of temperature of the
soldering iron can be maintained due to which soldering is done in minimum time without damaging the
components. This also ensures that the optimum amount of solder is melted by the soldering iron tip and
the junction is perfectly soldered. The precision of the stepper motor driven belt and pulley system is very
high such that even very closely placed junctions can be accurately soldered. Small and medium sized
PCBs can be soldered in less than 5 minutes which is comparatively much lesser than manual soldering.
The accuracy of the X-Y Plotter is 0.0785mm whereas the pin width of a general DIP is 2.54mm. Thus, the
pins of any DIP which is smallest pin distance among all components in through hole soldering can be
comfortably soldered.

12. FUTURE SCOPE

• This machine can further be improved upon by including support for soldering double sided PCB's. To
achieve this purpose, there would be a need to synchronize both top and bottom layers of the PCB. This
synchronization can be achieved by establishing multiple fiducial marks, on both top and bottom layer.
• Temperature of soldering iron can be further tuned by implementing controlling algorithms such as PI
(proportional-integral), for maintaining precise and accurate temperature in case of a particular choice of
solder material.

REFERENCE
[1] Yung C. Shin, Henry Chin, Michael J. Brink – Characteriztion of CNC machining centres, I Journal of
Manufacturing Systems, 1991.

[2] Heisel, M Gringel – Machine Tool Design Requirements for High Speed Machining, 1999.

[3] V.K. Pabolu and K.N.H. Srinivas – Design and Implementation of a three dimensional CNC machine,
2010.

[4] T. Andrei and I. Nae – Practical applications performed by a stepper motor CNC router, 2010.

[5] http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/io/io_3.html

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 PCB Soldering Machine

[6] http://www.thermocoupleinfo.com/

[7] http://www.briandorey.com/post/soldering-robot-solder-feeder

[8] https://www.arduino.cc/

[9] http://www.instructables.com/id/Drive-a-Stepper-Motor-with-an-Arduino-and-a-A4988-

[10] R S Shekhawat, Mathematical Modeling of Electrical Machines Using Circle Diagram, International
Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering and Technology (IJECET), 4(7), 2013, pp. 173–
181.

[11] Ashwani Kumar Aggarwal. Machine Vision Based Self-Position Estimation of Mobile Robots,
International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering & Technology (IJECET), 6 (10),
2015, pp. 20-29.

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