Hi, I designed a pcb in KiCad and now it is in production in China. The fab is almost ready for pick and place and now asks me for an X-Y part coordinates document for their pick and place machine (xls format).
Any idea how to extract this from KiCad?
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Duh, just had to look a bit further. There is an option in File->fabrication output->Footprint position.
This generates a .pos file which is actually a .csv (excel)
Now I have to double check if I had all the latest changes in part correctly added to the schematic…
btw, wayne and layne have a converter from pos to their chinese pnp machine: https://www.wayneandlayne.com/blog/2014/09/21/kicad-converter-for-tm-240a-pick-and-place-machines/
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And here is an excellent tutorial/reference for designing for manufacturing:
So, the .pos files by themselves are no good for the assembly house? I got this message from them:
I have checked with our programmer and we can’t use the provided files as placement data. Would you please help to provide another placement data?
Placement data is also known as XY DATA, which gives the centroid coordinates for all SMT parts that are to be installed, and come in the below formats.
Usable forms of Placement Data: Any of the following files can be used - .ipc/ .tgz/ .asc/ .CAD/ ODB++/ Pick & Place Data or outputs with extractable XY Data /.MNT / .MNP
The mounting data is all there in the .pos file, which is ASCII. Could I just relabel it as *.asc instead of *.pos?
Since I am not sure this thread is active any more, I also started a new thread at Are *.pos Good as Pick-and-Place Files?.
This issue was resolved with the manufacturing house. There seems to be nothing wrong with the .pos file.
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