Recap: The Raspberry Pi 5 was launched in 2023, delivering greater than twice the efficiency of the earlier era. The board was additionally instrumental in bringing a small, but important change in how the UK basis is definitely printing its single-board computer systems. By altering the best way Raspberry Pi boards are assembled and elements are soldered, the maker improved its operations in what it described as “huge” methods.
Raspberry Pi {Hardware} Engineer Roger Thornton defined the change in a current weblog submit. Working with its manufacturing associate Sony, the UK group regularly carried out a soldering method often called intrusive reflow soldering.
The brand new technique improved manufacturing high quality, diminished e-waste, and lowered the corporate’s environmental influence, Thornton said.
Intrusive reflow was first used to provide Raspberry Pi 5 boards and is now being utilized to earlier fashions as effectively. This new manufacturing course of resolved the inefficiency points brought on by earlier soldering strategies, which relied on distinct through-hole connectors and floor mount expertise (SMT) machines.
By-hole connectors require sturdy solder joints made via the printed circuit board and can’t be dealt with by the SMT machines that place particular person elements.
Within the early days of Raspberry Pi manufacturing, elements had been inserted by hand earlier than being dealt with by robots. A subsequent soldering step, the place boards handed via a molten solder tub, was used to safe all the pieces in place.
The enhancements led to a 50 p.c discount in product returns, a 15 p.c improve in manufacturing pace, and a yearly discount of 43 tonnes of CO₂ emissions.
The entire course of was complicated, pricey, and time-consuming. Now, because of intrusive reflow, through-hole connectors may be positioned utilizing the identical machines that set up SMT elements. Raspberry Pi perfected the tactic after a number of trials, adjusting the solder paste stencil and refining the PCB structure till the corporate’s high quality requirements had been met.
The enhancements led to a 50 p.c discount in product returns, a 15 p.c improve in manufacturing pace, and a yearly discount of 43 tonnes of CO₂ emissions. Raspberry Pi’s manufacturing now requires much less equipment and stock, with no manufacturing line interruptions as a consequence of work-in-process stock.
Raspberry Pi says that intrusive reflow soldering was key to eliminating “wasteful” intermediate steps within the manufacturing course of. The corporate now highlights its diminished environmental influence and improved effectivity, which align with its ongoing efforts to change into a extra accountable and sustainable group.
