PCB design using CCD2 CNC machine.

Physics Lab SSE

To start a PCB design using CCD2 machine you first need to have Gerber/CadCam/Excellon files of your
PCB design. Almost all PCB design softwares are able to generate Gerber output . To get introduced to
the idea of how isolation milling/engraving method is used to design PCB circuit please watch the
youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYAfNTvgTak

Important Note:
Please note that only Single Layer PCB designs are possible on CCD2. Dual layer design though possible,
needs extra consideration and will be too complicated to handle.
Also make sure that in your circuit the minimum track clearance is no less than 0.6 mm , i.e., the
distance between any two adjacent tracks on design is not less than 0.6 mm. This limit is imposed
because minimum of 0.6 mm routing bit is available in physics lab.

Here is small demo of how to make PCB using proteus.

Step 1: PCB design using Proteus ISIS: A basic overview

 In physics lab computer located with the PCB machine, you can open proteus ISIS from start
menu
 After opening proteus you can make any circuit design using proteus available components.
Make sure that the components you use must have their PCB footprint avaiable in the package
for further detail use Proteus Help menu.

 Once finished with the design click on the red button shown in the figure below. It will generate
the netlist of components and open the ARES interface.
 Once the ares is opened as shown in the figure below, you can perform the manual or
autorouting to interconnect the component and route the traces tracks. You can also make your
PCB design directly in the ARES without going through the Proteus ISIS.

 From Ares go to the output menu and select CADCAM output (which is the same as Gerber ).
 From CADCAM ouptput window make sure that Mirror and RS274X is selected. Now specify
the output folder where you want to save the Output GERBER/CADCAM files. Please note that
on the left it shows all the layer that it will export , Bottom , Top , Drill e.t.c files. You only need
TOP Layer, Bottom Layer and Drill, the rest are of no use here.

 Now open the folder where you saved your CADCAM/GERBER/EXCELLON output files. It should
contain at least three files , TOP Layer, Bottom Layer and Drill file as shown in figure below.
Step 2: Using ISOCAM to generate milling and drill data.

Before using ISOCAM make sure that the USB Dongle Key is connected with the computer, see the figure
below. To issue the dongle please consult the Lab in-charge. Note that without dongle ISOCAM will not
work hence the entire PCB machine will be useless , so make sure that the dongle is not lost in any
case.
 Now open the ISOCAM on located on desktop or use the path C:\Program File\IsoCam
 Go to the file menu and click on Load Files or press F3

 Now navigate to the folder where all the Gerber/CADCAM PCB design files are located. Select all
of them and click Open
 Make sure that “Load data using predefined parameters” option is unchecked, then click OK
 Click on “Hint by program” to select the appropriate format for Drill file, and click OK
 Now go to Edit menu select Synchronize layers and click on Auto

 Make sure that “Move selected layers to zero” option is checked , then press OK, it will
synchronize all layers to zero (starting) point of the software spatial plane.
 Now go to file menu and click on Create milling data , the isocam will create the milling/routing
data in CCD2 machine format

 Make sure the Tool size is 0.6 mm, if the unit are in mils then click on Mils/mm button as shown
 Now enter 0.6 in the Tool option and then click on Change and then finally click OK as shown
below

 Now it will ask you if you want to check whether the track clearance is satisfied with the milling
tool (0.6 mm) you selected previously, click yes to proceed.

 Press OK
 Now goto file menu and select “Save milling data”

 Enter any name, but make sure it ends with with the extension .plt as shown in below

 Now select the dril file from the layer menu at bottom left of the ISOCAM software
 After selecting the Drill file you will observe the file name with full path on the top of ISOCAM
window e.g C:\Documents and Setting\..........\20 pin – CadCAM Drill.TXT

 Now goto the File menu and select Save

  Make sure the following options shown in Figure are set , then press OK

 If any thing goes wrong repeat above step 2 and also refer to the ISOCAM help menu. Also
consult the ISOCAM manual on Physlab website or visit
http://www.bungard.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5&Itemid=98&lang=
english

Step 3: Setting up the CNC machine for operation.

1: Basic parts

• Machine Spindle: Machine main motor, having speed upto 65000 rpm .
• Bit Collet: Attached to spindle and holds drilling/routing bits.
• PCB Bed: Holds the PCB board on which the circuit trace to be made.
• Vaccum Hose: Sucks in board dust during machine operation.
• Machine Controller : Controls the machine operation with computer interface. Connected to
computer via USB.
• Machine Power Supply: Machine’s main power supply with ON/OFF button. For further details
consult CCD2 manual on physlab website or visit
http://www.bungard.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5&Itemid=98&lang=
english
• Plexiglas sheet : The transparent Plexiglas sheet is used to protect the PCB Bed while the drilling
is done on the circuit board. The DRILL or routing Bit can go through the PCB sheet which can
damage the Machine Bed, so make sure that plexi sheet is always under the circuit board or PCB
sheet.

CCD2 PCB MACHINE

 The vaccum hose is conencted to the vaccume pump

 The vacume pump is automated with PCB machine , its turns on automatically when the
machine is in operation. Make sure that the manual switch of the pump is truned ON . The
vaccum pump turns ON/OFF by pushing the button shown below
2: Preparing for routing/milling

 To preapre a machine for routing first you need to insert the appropiate routing bit into the bit
collete. The figure below shows a basic difference between a Drill and Routing bit.

 In physics lab you can locate the routing bits in a box labeled “PCB Machine” located by the side
of CCD2 PCB Machine. Only 0.6 mm routing bits are available with brown colored collar as
shown below
 To insert the routing bit, locate the bit lock, located at the top of the spindle
 First you need to loose the collete so that you can insert the bit, to do that, push the bit lock
downards gently and rotate it counter clockwise , with two or three rotaions the collette will
be loosen , to check whether the collete has loosen , try inserting the bit in the collete
gently if you unable to do so then try repate the above steps again until the collete is loose.
 When the the collete is loosen enough and the bit can easily slide in, insert the bit upto its
brown collar and tighten the collete for which you now need to rotate the bit lock clockwise
as shown in the figure below
 To insert the drill bit use the same above procedure. There are different sizes drill bits
available in physics lab, but the most suitable commonly use size is 1mm. As shown in figure
below
  Unfortunately the some of the drill bits available in physics lab does not have a an indication
collar. To make sure that you have inserted the bit to an appropiate depth use the collared
routing bit to make a good guess and tighten the collet at that location .

Note: The drill and routing bits are very fragile and expensive, take extra care while handling them.

4: Preparing the PCB board

 Get a PCB board from physics lab support or ask the Lab Incharge , mark the board to cut it
into the appropriate size , check the design/ PCB bed dimesnions first.
 Use the bandsaw cutter to cut the marked PCB board. Take all necessary precaustions
before using the bandsaw, wear eye protection glasses and wear gloves. Also ask the lab
incharge before using the band saw to guide you.
 Now place the board on the machine’s PCB Bed and use the hex key and available supports
to fix the PCB tightly, make sure that the board isn’t slack.
Step 4: Operating the machine using RoutPro

 Turn ON the PCB machine from the power supply

 Open RoutEPro, located on Desktop

 First load the Route File by clicking on the browse botton shown below, from the browser
button navigate to .plt that you have previously created while saving the milling data in
ISOCAM.

 Similarly load the Drill file.

 The Drilling and Routing radio buttons shown below are used to configure and operate the
machine for Drilling or Routing operation at a time. Let’s configure the machine offsets for
drilling operation.
 Note: RoutePro directly operates the machine so make sure that PCB machine bed and the area
around the machine is clear.

 You can set the machine offset by clicking on the Offset button. The machine will relocate
its position to its initial (0,0) location as shown below. Note that the radio button is set
on Drilling.

 After clicking on the Offset button a new will appear as shown below
 By clicking on the red arrows you can adjust the machines initial position of operation. Adjusting
the machine’s initial position by putting the offset means that the machine will start making the
circuit from that point. Once you are satisfied with the initial position (Offset points) click OK.
The same way you can set the offsets for Routing by selecting the radio button on Routing.
Do make sure that the Routing and Drilling offsets are the same otherwise the drilling and
routing won’t be synchronized and you will have a circuit board with erroneous drilling
locations. For further information check the online manual on physics lab website.

 Now let’s configure and finalize the routing parameters , make sure that the radio button is set
on Routing and then click on Tools
 The figure below shows the configuration parameters for routing tool. You only need to set
parameters for tool T1 because we are only using one tool for routing. Now below on Diam
column enter 0.6 and press Update , Diam represents the diameter of the routing tool bit, which
we know is 0.6 mm. Under the Depth column enter 0.1 and press Update. For the Iter column
enter 1 and press Update similarly for X feed and Z feed enter 600 and 850 respectively and
press Update. Finally on the Spindle column you can enter any value between 50000 to 60000
which is the spindle speed in rpm. After you are done with T1 row press OK .

The Depth parameter in the above figure represents the depth of the routing tool inside the PCB
board or you can say it is the depth of engraving done on the board while making the circuit tracks
as shown in the figure below. If you see that the engraving depth is too much that the bit is passing
through the entire thickness of the circuit board than reduce the entered Depth to 0.5 or essentially
to 0.1 or if you see the engraving is to not done and the bit hovers on the board without touching it
then increase the depth. For further understanding refer to the manuals uploaded on the physics lab
website
 Now press Update Data and then press Start Routing as shown below

 Press the RUN button as shown below

Make sure the appropriate tool is inserted in the collet and the collet has been properly
tightened. Press Tool is Inserted and then Start Spindle
Precaution: Wear safety glasses all the time.
 Now the board routing will start and you can see the circuit tracks being made by the machine,
if anything is not going right, for example the routing depth is not right or machine offset is not
properly set, you can press the ESC key to stop the machine.

Software view while the machine is in operation, press ESC to stop at any moment

The machine is operating in routing mode.

 Once the machine is finished with the routing, a message will appear on the screen as shown
below and the machine will stop. Press OK.

 Now replace the routing bit with the 1 mm Drill bit as described in the previous section.

 In the RoutPRO, now select the Drilling option from the radio buttons and press Tools

 Now in the Drill tool options, enter the drill depth 2 under the +mm column for all the
rows including T1, T2 ……. Tx, press Update and then OK
  Now on the main window of RoutPro press Start Drilling

 Then press the Run button followed by Tool is Inserted and Start spindle

 Now the machine will drill holes through the circuit board, remember if the holes
haven’t been drilled thoroughly through the circuit board, then increase the drilling
depth under the +mm column shown in the previous step.

 Normally in PCB circuits, there are multiple drilling tools used to drill different size of holes
and the machine will stop after drilling one size of holes and will ask you to insert another
Drill tool of xx size as shown below in the figure. We suggest that you should continue with
the same tool and drill all holes using the same 1 mm drill bit. To do that just continue by
pressing Tool is inserted , Start Spindle and just keep repeating the steps every time the
machine stops and the software ask you to insert a new size drill bit.
Note: Drill bits are fragile and expensive kindly make proper use of them.

After drilling your PCB circuit will be ready.

Note: After you are done turn the machine off and put back everything at the proper location. Cover up
the machine and turn off the computer and don’t forget to return the Dongle USB Key.