Major Iron

Hi,

This may be a little off-topic but here goes. I bought 2 new (to me
anyway) Zevatech SX 730 pick and place machines. Her twin sister
arrives next week.

It was delivered this past Friday, it took 3 men an and a boy (my 15
year-old son) to sweat and grunt it into place.

It's sole purpose and function is to replace Ursulla, the wicked and
evil pick-and-place bench top machine that has churned out 20,000
Geckos to date.

My daughter named her after watching me struggle, fight, curse and
plead with it to turn out workable boards. She said "this machine is
evil just like Ursulla; that will be her name". And it fit.

Ursulla is a svelte and petit girl that barely weighs 300 lbs.
Zevatech and her sister is far more serious at 3,000 lbs.

I am staring at a 5' by 5' by 5' cube that comprises the new 3,000 lb
wonder. It is a marvel of black anodized metal, shiny chrome ways and
glinting motors connected with pale blue transparent pnuematic tubing
going to a myriad of actuators. There are Sony Magnascale linear
encoders everywhere. Red laser beams by the dozens are shining from
mirrors everywhere in its vast depths in their perfect directions. I
stopped counting servomotors when I reached 8, there will still more.
To me it looks like Darth Vadar's starship. It quietly hums with
restrained power, an absolutely beautiful machine.

Tomorrow I have to learn tame and control this beast. Work has to be
done especially seeing as how Ursulla is on strike again.

It promises to place near 14,000 parts per hour versus Ursulla's
reluctant and moody 2,400. 14,000 perfectly placed parts to Ursulla's
indifferently scattered ones.

I will soon find out if it ever will have a name; personally I hope
it won't. If it works as promised, reliably and unstintingly, it will
never have a personality that needs one.

In a way I will miss Ursulla; we have been thru a lot together, warts
and all.

Mariss