How to Generate a Centroid file (aka Pick-and-place) for any PCB - In less than 2 minutes!

  • By Simon Garrison

Centroid File Generation - What usually takes hours can now be done in minutes!

The Centroid file describes the position along with orientation of all components on your pcb, and it is used by PCB Assembly shops to rapidly program their automated Pick-and-place equipment.

Some CAD packages will generate this Centriod file however in many situations no centroid file is available; only the manufacturing files used to fabricate the board (aka Gerber, Drill, IPC Netlist, etc). Many PCB assembly shops are then forced to reverse engineer these manufacturing files to extract a Centroid file, which can be a very time consuming process plus error prone.

Using just the IPC Netlist file, FAB 3000 is able to completely extract all PCB components including position, orientation, and board side in less than 2 minutes!  

Here's a quick tutorial movie showing how it's done:

 For more information about FAB 3000, visit:  http://www.numericalinnovations.com