For the first time, U of T Engineering undergraduates in electronics courses will have access to automated pick and place machines to assemble printed circuit boards (PCBs) just as they do in industry.
The new laboratory space in the Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation & Entrepreneurship will primarily serve students from the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering and The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering.
PCBs with surface-mounted components are found in almost all electronic devices. They are essential components in a wide range of electronic devices and systems, including consumer electronics, such as smart phones and televisions. They are also used in medical devices, such as neurostimulators and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines, and automotive systems, such as engine control units and advanced driver-assistance systems. The proliferation of PCBs with surface-mounted components has been made possible by their low cost of production with equipment showcased in this lab.
“Part of our goal is to introduce our students to how these components are placed onto PCBs, and that’s what these pick and place machines do,” says Tomas Bernreiter, Laboratory Engineer & Manager, MIE.
“Surface mount components are very small, often only a few millimeters in size, and therefore require specialized handling and placement equipment.”
The new PCBP Laboratory expands the soldering and electronic testing capabilities of the Myhal Fabrication Facility. Jointly funded by MIE, ECE and the faculty through the Dean’s Strategic Fund grants, it has 35 dedicated seats for electronics assembly and testing.
It will support hands-on lab components in MIE and ECE courses, including MIE366 and ECE295, where students build and populate circuit boards. The lab will also be available to student design teams for this purpose.
One of the first courses running design assignments in the new space is MIE346: Analog and Digital Electronics for Mechatronics, in which students design and build a variable power supply.
“Students design the electronic circuits for their project and then use the new lab to build and test the physical circuit board. The automated pick and place machines will place the small components onto a printed circuit board, after which the boards will be ready for solder reflowing,” says Bernreiter.
“They will then use special ovens in the new lab to reflow the solder to bond the surface mount components to the PCBs.”
The faculty aims to centralize all electronics and soldering work in this new space, freeing up the Myhal Light Fabrication Facility for more mechanical-based work. Future MIE electric vehicle-based labs in power electronics will also utilize the pick and place machines.
“This is going to be the first time that undergraduate students are going to interact with pick and place machines,” says Bernreiter. “That’s something novel for the university.”