Design of a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) Router For Producing Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs)

Abstract

Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) are indispensable in electrical and electronic engineering. Making PCBs can be chemically messy and hazardous, especially chemical etching. Manual etching, on the other hand, is time-consuming. PCB milling as an alternative is initially expensive and not accessible to students and young makers in developing countries like Ghana. This paper presents a cheaper PCB milling machine prototype as an alternative to chemical etching. The prototyped PCB milling machine is made of locally sourced materials, acrylic sheets and 3D printed parts. Solidworks 3D modelling software was used to model the prototyped Computer Numerical Control (CNC) PCB milling machine to ascertain design feasibility. Galvanized steel square pipes were welded into a rigid frame to form the CNC PCB milling machine. The Arduino Uno CNC shield control board was used to control all the parts of the machine, coupled with the aid of the Universal G-code sender software, the g-code of any circuit can be sent from the user’s personal computer into the machine for drilling and milling. The merits and demerits of the prototyped CNC PCB milling machine compared with conventional ones were evaluated.  Finally, a comparison between the prototyped PCB milling technique for prototyping circuit boards and chemical etching was done to validate whether it is a viable alternative. It was realised that it was cost-competitive, produced at a cost of $165.37, to the chemical etching technique with an added advantage of being environmentally and humanly benign.