Can YOU solder 300 parts on a PCB, making 1000 connections in under 1 hour?
Using hotplate reflow soldering this is possible, and has been done. If you have attended one of my SMD soldering workshops, you know how it works: With a stencil, solder paste, PCB, parts, tweezers and a hotplate. Using only a soldering iron this may be possible, but is unlikely to look as nice as reflow soldered or even be successful, and will certainly be MUCH slower.
Do you know any tricks that allow you to break the 30 minutes/1000 connections barrier? Then surely you want to compete in this contest. Even if you don't have any special tricks up your sleeve, you can still try your luck. The record so far is 48 minutes.
This speed-soldering competition is open to up to 8 teams of 3-5 people.
Each team will get parts for 5 PCBs, Each PCBs will be a 20 x 10 pixel full colour display matrix containing 200 ws2812 compatible LEDs, which can for instance be used to play a famous falling block game (buttons and esp32-c3's available, but not part of the contest). To participate, teams need to pay the nominal cost of running this competition (i.e. parts and consumables) in cash: approximately 8 Euro / 60 DKK per display = 40 Euro / 300 DKK per team. First come, first serve.
Each team gets the following parts: 5 PCBs 1000 (+50 spare) SMD leds (WS2812 compatible, 0807 size) 500 (+25 spare) 100nF capacitors
Each team gets the following tools (on loan during the competition) 1 stencil (in holder) 1 solder paste spreader 5 tweezers 2 mirrors some solder paste (you can choose lead free or leaded) some solder wire (you can choose lead free or leaded) 1 non-fancy 240V soldering iron with a sort of "fine" tip (might be useful for rework) a time-out-bin to be used while waiting until a hot-plate becomes available - putting your team's PCBs in this bin stops the clock
All teams together have: 2 hot plates set at 225 degrees centigrade
Objective is to make fully populated, fully functional PCBs as quickly as possible without using an automated pick-and-place machine.
If (after rework) some LEDs don't work or are missing, they cause a 1 minute penalty per LED If (after rework) some Capacitors don't work (not functionally connected) or are missing, they cause a 1 minute penalty per Capacitor If a team loses more than the provided number of extra LEDs or capacitors, then some more may be available AFTER the contest If, at the end of the competition, any PCB of a team has less than 50% functional LEDs, then the team is disqualified
Teams may bring whatever extra tools they require but NO extra mains-powered equipment using more than 25W - so NO extra hot-plates or reflow ovens - Bornhack mains power supply only has very limited capacity.
After the end of the competition (after 120 minutes), the teams that have successfully competed get to take home their PCBs
more rules will follow
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