BUILD YOUR OWN PC BOARD: A DESIGNER'S DREAM: LPKF's ProtoMat S62 desktop milling machine exceeds designers' expectations with its mini learning curve coupled with low cost and fast turnaround

摘要

Electronic Design engineers cast their votes on the most popular Leapfrog article of this year and... insert drum roll here... the winner is LPKF Laser and Electronics' low-cost, S62 circuit-board plotter (Fig. 1). Not only is the article popular ("Build A Board In-House Without The Mess," March 31, p. 39, ED Online 9984), but the LPKF Laser and Electronics' webcast covering the S62 was and remains a very popular session. The desktop S62 is a 3D milling machine designed to create pc boards. Its 10-tool autochanger enables it to handle a wide range of jobs (Fig. 2). The plotter's milling head travels at 150 mm/s, and the high-performance spindle motor ratchets up to 62,000 rpm. Also, its Z-axis movement permits depth in RF designs as well as very flexible modifications to non-pc-board materials (such as covers, photomasks, and labels). According to LPKF's S62 sales manager Jim Greene, the S62s are rolling off the assembly line to customers as fast as the company can make them. Thanks to their USD18,900 price tag, units can find homes in organizations that couldn't afford this type of technology in the past.