Background Theory > PCB Design > Automated Pick and Place

Pick and place machines for PCB (Printed Circuit Board) assembly use pick and place files to know where each component goes on the board. These files are often in CSV (Comma Separated Values) format, which is a widely accepted format that can be read by many machines and software.

The information in a typical pick and place CSV file includes:

Designator

This column contains the reference designator for each part, such as "R1", "C1", etc. This tells the machine what the name of the part is on the board.

Mid X and Mid Y

These are the coordinates that indicate where on the board the part should go. The position can be in units of millimeters or inches depending on the machine used.

Layer

This indicates whether the component goes on the top or bottom side of the board.

Rotation

This specifies how much the part should be rotated before it is placed on the board.

Value

This field is typically the value or name of the component, such as "10K resistor" or "0.1uF capacitor".

Footprint

This field might contain information about the component's physical size or the type of footprint it has.

Comment

This is typically an optional field for additional information that might be helpful to the machine operator.

The exact contents of a pick and place file can vary depending on the machine and the software used to generate the file. For example, some machines may require additional fields such as feeder number or package type.

A sample CSV pick and place file might look something like this:

Designator,Mid X,Mid Y,Layer,Rotation,Value,Footprint,Comment

R1,10,20,top,90,10K,0805,

C1,30,40,top,0,0.1uF,0603,

U1,50,60,top,270,OPA134,SOIC-8,

In this file, the resistor R1 is located at X=10, Y=20, on the top side of the board, and should be rotated 90 degrees before placement. The value of the resistor is 10K and it has an 0805 footprint. The other lines follow a similar format for the other components.

Pick and Place CSV Files

Pick and Place CSV Files