CAD Assistant 4 – fast, intuitive, easy!
The future in programmable soldering, already in use today
Encounter electronics manufacturing of the future – from 14 to 17 November at the Ersa Stand A4.171 at productronica. Let’s get together to discover new possibilities in electronics manufacturing!
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Electronic assemblies are constantly getting more complex with more diverse components, densities and board designs. Therefore the fast and reliable programming of the soldering process becomes an important step in an efficient electronics production. In order to guarantee the highest uptime of the machine, the Kurtz Ersa CAD Assistant 4 enables programming offline while the machine is running. These programs can be used without any interruptions directly on the machine because of the full integration with the operating software of the machine, ERSASOFT 5. CAD Assistant 4 also supports the programming of modules with two independent axis systems (VERSAFLUX and VERSAFLEX).
The data sets for the CNC axis systems – in the software presented as widgets – are edited with a simple “drag and drop”. Predefined widgets can be easily adapted to the current application. A plausibility test supports the programmer to avoid mistakes. With the CAD Assistant 4 also pictures can be used instead of CAD data to program the board. All movements of the fluxer and solder pot axis systems are entered graphically on the PCB picture and are provided with process data. All this programmed data can be tested for any errors by a simulation run and can be used immediately in the selective soldering machine. Moreover, the CAD Assistant 4 offers an autorouting function that will calculate the fastest soldering program using the algorithms of the travelling salesman principle.
Modern Data Processing with CAD or pictures
The import of 3D data provides the process engineer with additional information that supports him in programming. This data include information about the conductive layers of the boards, drilling information, component part lists, placement data and exact measurements. This means that the exact free space around the solder joints is known at every spot on the board. The ODB++ is a data exchange format that can be exported from the layout programs available on the market. But of course, also the other current 3D and CAD data like GenCAD or IPC 2581 can be used. Furthermore, also the import of pictures of the PCB remains possible. Here too, all standard formats (jpg, bmp, png, tif, gic, etc.) can be used. In this case, the 2D picture will be displayed on the screen and the programmer adds the single soldering jobs. Ersa recommends the use of ODB++ data, which offers enormous advantages in creating new soldering programs.
Innovative Template Libraries
Templates offer the process engineer a fast start in program creation with the CAD Assistant 4. The software already provides several predefined templates for different nozzle sizes and operation modes which can be used for the creation of soldering programs. The templates are always dependent on the nozzle size because every size comes with different parameters. These templates can be adapted, newly defined and saved individually for future usage. When changing the parameters of the templates, the process engineer has an enormous flexibility at hand. He can easily adapt the sequence of the CNC axis system – in the software displayed as widgets – by drag & drop. Created templates can simply be transferred from one machine to the next.