Selective soldering systems enable simple and efficient programming

Soldering equipment manufacturer Ersa GmbH and EasyLogix, developer of software for circuit board design and PCB quality assurance, are collaborating to simplify and speed-up programming of selective soldering systems. For this, a customized version of EasyLogix software ‘PCB-Investigator’ is integrated into the Ersa ‘CAD 4-assistant’. The software is a flexible CAD/CAM system that uses the ODB++ data format to visualize a complete PCB design. Throughout the entire life-cycle it bridges the gaps between tools used by different departments as well as between 2D and 3D-CAD/CAM systems. By joining forces, the companies have integrated into the selective wave soldering process what is usually used to generate more efficient review processes and fault avoidance through simulation in the early development stages. Michael Schäfer, head of development at Ersa GmbH, explains: "Conventional graphic programming processes require multiple manual interventions during the preparation of the photographic template – an elaborate process that is time-consuming. Now, with the help of the CAD 4-assistant, we enable high-precision offline programming based on CAD data with innovative and intuitive software. The technology of the PCB-Investigator, which EasyLogix has bought to our joint project, enables highly automated, path-optimized programming because our software is now able to work with a complete data model of the circuit board and all components."