I'm a hobbyist and I'm trying to place a 0.5mm pitch BGA with tweezers. I've yet to land the chip properly on 3 attempts. At ~$30/board, I need a better way.
What are my options?
I've seen some DIY manual pick and place rigs, but I don't really feel like spending 2 weeks to rig a frame that's only marginally better than placing it by hand. Professional rigs seem to start at ~$4,000, and I just don't have that to burn.
I'm using a SiLabs EFM32 part, and the only variant that has both USB and all 16 cap touch channels comes in a 0.5mm pitch BGA. I have a "plab B" board that uses an external cap touch chip so I can use a TQFP part instead, but I'd really like to at least try and see what I can do with this: I have a solder stencil and boards printed for the BGA: All I need to do is land the thing properly.
Using 1 chip will be simpler, smaller, have lower power consumption and a lower total cost. Most importantly, I have everything ready to go except rock-steady hands. Any advice is appreciated! I'd love to be able to drop this thing in and go!