Product Applications

The SafFire is a versatile 405nm/250mW laser projection system that features various sizes of accessories for SLA 3D printing. It provides unprecedented detail and accuracy due to utilizing automatically-tuned state-space control for the galvanometers and a special light-sensitive diode matrix for X/Y calibration. Designing a product such as this requires knowledge of embedded development, laser and galvanometer technology, control systems, resin chemistry, screw threads and bearings, mesh file mathematics, and multithreaded graphical software.

Many projects combine both electrical and mechanical components, including pneumatics and hydraulics, and Great Lakes Prototyping has experience putting everything together. Shown at right are components of a pick-and-place machine for populating PCBs. The head features six extending nozzles with vacuum/pressure tips as well as a paste dispenser and a needle for advancing reels. Pressure was needed in addition to vacuum in order to release the components properly, and these are switched with help from model airplane servo motors. An alternative reel peeler assembly is also shown which detects sprocket holes in the tape by means of an optical sensor and moves the main tape forward by pulling off the cover tape.

Great Lakes Prototyping has a particular expertise in creating very compact designs, such as those shown at right. Unlike many other engineering firms, we are very comfortable with the newest surface-mount packaging and can solder most packages manually with a regular soldering iron. We can also route PCBs onto two layers where most engineers would recommend four layers (at an increased production cost for the customer). The datalogger shown features a magnetic compass, an accelerometer, a thermometer/barometer, a hygrometer, a GPS receiver, and a microcontroller with additional non-volatile memory chips. The OV5642 PCB shown is meant to accept a CMOS camera sensor breakout board and be used for a pick-and-place machine. A Linux kernel driver was written that supports multiple cameras.

With the advent of more efficient MOSFETs and IGBTs, including silicon carbide components, switching converters and inverters are becoming more and more common. Great Lakes Prototyping has particular experience with large induction and series-wound (at right) motor drivers for electric vehicles. In addition, we have a lot of knowledge of inductor/transformer design, which includes choosing among a wide variety of core materials, accounting for skin and proximity effect losses, and optimizing winding efficiency with spreadsheets. Finally, we have experience with certain types of multilevel inverters, which are a somewhat new concept.

If you have an obsolete piece of equipment that is in need of some tender loving care, Great Lakes Prototyping might be able to help. Two examples are shown at right: a mass flow controller replacement PCB and a video digitizer for a spectrum analyzer. Some mass flow controllers were purchased for our magnetron sputtering setup, but they arrived with highly modified, sloppy control cards that seemed not to be in working condition. A replacement was designed and worked well after some resistor value adjustments were made. While using the spectrum analyzer (which had a broken CRT screen), there was a desire to have a logarithmic X axis and to be able to save data from test runs. A run-length encoder was designed in logic and placed into a CPLD. Paired with a USB interface IC and some driver software, the PAL video output could be captured live and processed on a PC.

A segment of engineering often overlooked by most consulting firms is the high-vacuum field. Great Lakes Prototyping has the experience to assist with your high-vacuum needs, since we built our own sputtering setup from scratch (see magnetron shown at right). In addition to physical vapor deposition processes, we have experience with valves and gauges – mainly pirani and ion types. Our excellent ability to interpret technical papers and datasheets also adds to our repertoire in such a highly scientific field as this.