Vapor Phase with Saber Kaygusuz

Welcome Saber Kaygusuz of PCB Arts!

• PCB Arts has been developing the EdgeKit, a modular platform for AI and vision applications baesd on the nVidia Jetson
• Saber and team were building robots previously, up through 2017
• After they encountered software people not understanding hardware, they decided to focus on nvidia jetson
• They focus mostly on smaller companies
• Example application is an inspection tunnel in auto manufacturing
• Use nVidia resources to rebuild camera modules in the kernel
• They have 6 people on the team and do consulting services in additoin to the products they build
• 3 month timelines for projects
• They have been focusing on reinvesting in the business and investing in product development
• Buying parts 1.5 years ago
• Complexity of the product determines the percentage of the overall process the design piece is (vs manufacturing / certs / sales)
• The Vapor Phase One is a prosumer level Vapor Phase reflow machine
• Chris first encountered Vapor Phase when Jonathan Hirschman of PCB:ng was on the show.
• Compared to infrared ovens, Vapor Phase doesn't have to worry about scorching or shading components.
• Normally they are 10K+ euros for oven
• Safety wise, it's safe as long as the liquid is heated precisely
• The Vapor Phase One is available in their web store
• Also available on Mouser for US people (as are most Crowd Supply campaign products). There are 4 distributors in Europe.
• It was a hassle to get the product certified in the US
• They targeted a $1500 price, ended up at $5k (still half of most Vapor Phase)
• The liquid inside the machine is called Galden, which stays at a stable vapor temperature when heated.
• 1kg lasts 1 year or more.
• After a bit of time, you need to clean the flux out of the Galden resevoir.
• There is a post cleaning process based on water cooling built in the system. At 120C, the PCB will come out "dry".
• PCB Arts has posted on Twitter/their blog about visualizing boards in Blender.
• They are focused on software improvements for the Vapor Phase machine.
• Since PCB Arts is based in Nuremberg, they will again be at Embedded World
• Follow the company and Saber at PCB Arts on their site.
• Follow Saber on LinkedIn