Lighting

Started by WillReeve, July 22, 2017, 11:11:02 AM

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WillReeve

My RV doesn't get much use but was recently needed to make 50 boards so the usual hand-holding I give it was beginning to grate!
What I discovered was the machine ran great sometimes, and others had difficulty with component vision / rejection! Turned out it was ambient light, streaming in through a Velux window above it. The smoked windows didn't really work in this situation.
I bought a Velux window black out blind, and some strip LED lights which work perfectly. They are remote control and can be adjusted from bright for PCB vision, to a perfect dim for component placement. The strips are on the door so when closed you actually get a quite even diffuse light, independent of arm position.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06Y53K1K1/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1





Mike

Yes it is rather sensitive - the tinted covers are pretty much completely transparent to IR, so they reject fluorescent and LED lighting, but no natural light.
I blinged mine out with LED tape along the frame top and sides to help visibility when setting up, and also put some side-facing LED strip inside the head cover, but there is an issue with the flying cam that it can pick up light differently depending on arm position.
As & when I get round to it I intend to replace the red light on both cameras with much brighter white LEDs and stop the lenses down to make them less sensitive to ambient. I'd guess stopping down the lenses should also increase depth of field.
An IR cut filter on the cameras may also be helpful to reject natural ambient.