Pixel Pump
| Pixel Pump | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Manufacturer | Robins Tools & Nottingham Hackspace |
| Model | Pixel Pump |
| Obtained | Pledge Drive (August 2025) |
| Location | Electronics Area |
| Team | Electronics |
| Induction Required | No |
| Tools: all pages • list • Power Tools • Broken tools {{}} | |
The Pixel Pump is a manual pick and place aid - it's the digital equivalent of tweezers. It was purchased through the Pledge Drive for the Pixel Pump DIY Kit in August 2025, and assembled from parts printed by Andrew H.
Buttons
Lift vs Drop
The top two buttons allow you to switch between two modes. In "Lift", pressing the footswitch will turn on the suction, and lifting your foot will turn it off. In Drop mode, the suction will be on all the time, except when the foot pedal is pressed.
Low vs High
These two switches allow you to switch between two suction strengths. Low will be slightly quieter, but may not lift larger components.
Reverse and Trigger
The reverse button allows the Pixel Pump to blow air out of the nozzle, rather than suck. This is useful in cases where you have accidentally sucked solder paste into the tube.
The trigger button is an alternative to the foot switch.
Choice of Nozzles
The Pixel Pump comes with an assortment of different angled nozzles - you should use whichever is most appropriate for the component you are placing. All of the nozzles have a Luer Lock fitting.
Interactive Bill of Materials
In KiCAD, you can install a plugin called Interactive HTML BOM. This produces a nice to use web page showing where to place components. When attached to the computer through USB-C, the pixel pump will press the keyboard shortcuts to move onto the next component in the BOM.