I need to generate a Pick and place file from Gerbers received for a specific project. Is there any program that will be able to generate these files from gerbers files? At the moment I need to do it manually checking XY and of each component using a standard gerber viewer.
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\$\begingroup\$ Usually the pick'n'place file is generated by the PCB layout tool together with the gerber artwork. I'm not sure the information can be extracted from the gerber data alone, except by doing i manually as you do right now. \$\endgroup\$– Peter KarlsenCommented Mar 25, 2021 at 7:49
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\$\begingroup\$ Peter is right, the Gerber is only the PCB and does not include the position information. The CAD software used should have a function to generate what is called a Pick and Place file (PKP) that contains that information. \$\endgroup\$– DamienCommented Mar 25, 2021 at 8:50
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\$\begingroup\$ Thanks Peter and Damien, unfortunately I don't have the build package/files from the CAD and only the Gerbers of the board. Thanks for your input \$\endgroup\$– Neil HeckroodtCommented Mar 25, 2021 at 12:49
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1\$\begingroup\$ It's actually worse than that, the pick and place file locates the position on the PCB and the rotation relative to the origin of the component in the footprint. Which may not be where you think it should be (could be the center of the component, the middle of pad 1, some point on the front of a switch etc.). \$\endgroup\$– Spehro 'speff' PefhanyCommented Mar 25, 2021 at 13:16
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1\$\begingroup\$ Gerber format is pretty trivial, if you can't find a library to parse it, it's an easy project to write your own parser. Not like (for example) DXF. The difficulty would be trying to reverse engineer the centre and orientation of each component from the coordinates of its pads. Can you ask for a component placement "layer" to be added to the PCB design? In-house, that would probably be the easiest solution. Lay out the PCB using in-house component libraries with the necessary info on this layer. For all other purposes, this layer is turned off... \$\endgroup\$– user16324Commented Mar 25, 2021 at 14:45
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2 Answers
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The obvious answer is 'you can't'. Unless it's a very new gerber release (the X2) which is annotated with component infos. The only thing a gerber says is 'there is a pad here' and 'there is a track from there to that'. No pin number, no designators. In fact the text is drawn as lines.
If you had a D356 netlist it would be slightly better. With a lot of processing you could extract the pin 1 position and have an idea of the centroid (both are needed to program the PnP machine).
The alternative is using some CAM software to manually 'teach' the component position (usually you click between pads and the CAM latches on these), but a lot of hand fixing is needed anyway
answered Mar 25, 2021 at 15:33
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\$\begingroup\$ X2 doesn't contain component info. X2 contained layer info. X3 does contain component info \$\endgroup\$– user16222Commented Mar 25, 2021 at 15:38
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\$\begingroup\$ Yup, you're right. I forgot the intermediate release \$\endgroup\$ Commented Mar 26, 2021 at 10:55
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Yes, it's absolutely possible and very common to generate pick and place file from gerbers and I used to do it quite often in the past when the original layout was missing.
The program that can help you achieve that, and probably the best as far as I can tell, is GC-PowerPlace™
Take a look here: https://smtnet.com/company/index.cfm?fuseaction=view_company&company_id=40857&component=catalog&catalog_id=11103
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\$\begingroup\$ I couldn't find any information about the cost. Usually I'd instantly skip an option if pricing isn't disclosed publicly. \$\endgroup\$– VelvetCommented Dec 24, 2022 at 12:31
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\$\begingroup\$ Embedded Music - Hi, Thanks for trying to help. However this is being flagged as spam by some other members, as it reads just like a promotion. I won't explain all the little "warning bells", but I can see why those members are concerned. Do you have any connection with either GraphiCode or SMTnet? If so, that must be disclosed. Why did you link to SMTnet instead of GraphiCode? How did the software cope with the type of issue mentioned in this comment above, in your experience? What more can you explain, so this sounds less like just a promotion? \$\endgroup\$– SamGibson ♦Commented Dec 24, 2022 at 14:25