Odd Form Insertion Machine Programming: Array Data and Automatic Learning | Southern Machinery

Programming is where most THT automation projects are quietly won or lost. An odd-form insertion machine can only place the components someone has taught it — and on a board carrying connectors, relays, transformers, fuse holders or terminal blocks, point-by-point teaching is the task that consumes engineering hours, delays the first production run and eats changeover time on every new order.

This article follows Lesson 8 of Southern Machinery's odd-form insertion machine training series, "Array data and automatic learning." It is a programming lesson rather than a machine demo: it explains how array data lets one taught insertion pattern be reused across repeated positions and across a multi-up panel, and how automatic learning lets the machine capture pickup and reference data itself instead of an engineer typing every value by hand.

The training lesson is embedded below.

Direct link: watch Lesson 8 of the odd form machine training series on YouTube

What is this machine used for?

An odd-form insertion machine is the THT station that handles what the rest of the line cannot: parts that are neither radial tape, axial tape nor SMD. Transformers, relays, connectors, fuse holders, terminal blocks, radial electrolytic capacitors, inductors, lamps and optoelectronic components arrive in trays, tubes, vibration bowls or loose bags, with varying lead pitches and asymmetric bodies. Manual insertion means one operator, one part at a time. An odd-form machine picks each part with a nozzle or gripper, presents it to the board, seats the leads into the programmed holes to a programmed depth and clinches underneath, so the board can continue into wave soldering.

As a reference point for this equipment class, the documented specification of the S-70LD odd form insertion machine describes four insertion heads with four adjustable feeders (tape or vibration plate), a 4,000 CPH insertion speed (3,800 CPH noted for radial resistor insertion), ±0.05 mm insertion accuracy, components from 3×3 mm to 30×30 mm and up to 50 mm high, PCBs from 50×50 mm to 300×300 mm at 0.8–5.0 mm thickness, a 220 V AC / 0.8 kVA supply and a machine weight of roughly 1,000 kg. Southern Machinery's odd-form platforms, including the S7900 series, address the same job at different board sizes and throughput classes.

The mechanics, however, are only half of the machine. What decides whether an odd-form station pays back on a high-mix line is the programming environment — and that is what Lesson 8 is about.

What "array data" and "automatic learning" mean in practice

Array data is the feature that turns a repetitive board into a short program. Instead of teaching every insertion point individually, you teach the geometry once — the pickup position, the insertion point, the depth and orientation — and then define it as an array: rows and columns, pitch in X and Y, and a count. A board with twelve identical connectors along one edge, or a panel with six identical PCBs, becomes one taught pattern plus an array definition rather than twelve or sixty separate points.

Automatic learning is the other half of the same idea: the machine captures reference data itself rather than relying on manual entry. In the training series, the lesson walks through how pickup and insertion references are learned and stored by the machine, so the operator confirms what the machine has found instead of calculating it by hand.

Practical consequences for a production engineer:

Fewer taught points means fewer opportunities for a typing error — and a typo in an insertion program does not stop the machine, it produces a mis-inserted part that is only found downstream.
Panel work becomes economical. When a panel is programmed as one pattern plus an array, adding a second or third up does not multiply programming time.
Programs become portable. Data learned and stored on one machine can be exported, backed up and restored, which matters when a second machine runs the same product, or when a machine is serviced.
Changeover time drops. For a high-mix DIP line, the changeover clock includes programming; array data and auto learning are directly visible in that number.

Typical applications

1. Home appliance control boards. Air conditioner, washing machine, rice cooker, induction cooker and microwave boards carry connectors, relays and transformers alongside radial parts. These products repeat the same component family across many SKUs — exactly the case where array data and a stored program library pay back fastest.

2. Power tools and power electronics. Terminal blocks, fuse holders and heavy connectors must be seated and clinched reliably before soldering. Repetitive layouts along board edges are textbook array-data applications.

3. Power supply and LED driver PCBA. Vehicle power supplies, energy-saving power supplies and ballasts use transformers, inductors, radial capacitors and optoelectronic parts — mixed odd-form families that are hard to present by hand consistently.

4. Automotive and vehicle electronics. Car audio and vehicle power supply boards combine odd-form parts with mixed SMT/THT content, where insertion depth and polarity consistency are reliability characteristics rather than cosmetics.

5. EMS and ODM plants running high-mix DIP assembly. Where one line builds many board variants that share component families, the programming method decides how many variants the line can change over to per shift.

How it fits into a complete PCB assembly line

Programming is performed at one machine, but the result is felt across the whole flow:

SMT block first. Stencil printing, SPI, pick-and-place and reflow build the SMD side — Southern Machinery's SMT range covers this stage, including the SP-300 and SP-1200 stencil printers, inline SPI/AOI, and the S-530L semi-automatic pick and place for LED and lens mounting.
Component preparation. Radial taping and lead forming, bulk capacitor taping with polarity check, IC lead forming and lead cutting convert bulk parts into insertion-ready format. No program can compensate for a badly formed lead.
THT insertion block. This is where odd-form insertion sits — alongside the S-3010B and S-3000 radial inserters, the S-70LD and S7900 odd-form inserters, the S7020 Series PIN/eyelet/terminal inserter and the S4000 axial family. Each station has its own program, and each program is an asset the plant maintains.
Soldering and lead finishing. Inserted boards move into lead-free wave soldering — the S-WS450 or the PC-controlled dual-wave S-WS350B — then to the S-320AT inline auto lead cutter, cleaning and inspection.
Inspection. SPI, AOI, the S-D330 online wave-solder appearance checker and X-ray equipment catch what the insertion station produced. Program quality upstream is what keeps those stations from becoming the rework department.
Board handling. Magazine loaders and unloaders (SLD/SUL series), bridge and inspection conveyors, PCB turnover machines and reject conveyors connect the stages; buffer storage such as the S-TS500 lets you correct a program without stopping the line.
Support ecosystem. Spare parts, custom nozzles and grippers, repair, retrofit and operator training. The training series behind this lesson — including the S7020T start-up, parameter and shutdown chapters — is part of the deliverable, not an afterthought.

Key selection parameters

The parameters below are the categories worth confirming in a quotation. Where a documented figure exists for the S-70LD platform it is shown as reference; everything else is a category to verify against your own build.

| Parameter | Documented S-70LD reference | What to confirm for your build |

|---|---|---|

| Insertion heads / feeders | 4 heads, 4 adjustable feeders (tape or vibration plate) | Head count, feeder mix and presentation formats for your part list |

| Component envelope | 3×3 mm to 30×30 mm, up to 50 mm high | Your largest and heaviest odd-form parts, and body-to-body clearance |

| Speed class | 4,000 CPH (3,800 CPH noted for radial resistors) | Required rate against your component count per board and changeover frequency |

| Insertion accuracy | ±0.05 mm | Hole-to-lead clearance and positional tolerance on your design |

| PCB range | 50×50 mm to 300×300 mm, 0.8–5.0 mm thick | Your smallest board, largest panel and maximum panel weight |

| Programming environment | Array data and automatic learning covered in this lesson | Whether arrays/pattern copy, auto learning, offline programming and program import/export are included |

| Program data handling | Not specified in the lesson | Backup, export, restore and transfer of programs between machines |

| Clinching | Documented on the odd-form platform | Inward or outward clinch to suit your solder process and IPC class |

| Component feeding | Tape or vibration plate feeder | How your parts are packaged today, and whether that presentation is reliable |

| Line interface | Inline station with SMEMA handshake | Conveyor height, direction and handshake with your existing DIP line |

| Utilities | 220 V AC, 0.8 kVA; air 0.4–0.6 MPa; noise ≤75 dB | Site power, air supply and noise specification |

| Footprint / weight | Approximately 1,000 kg | Floor loading and access for setup, maintenance and feeder loading |

Beyond the specification, confirm what you are buying with the machine:

Training depth. Will your own operators and process engineers be able to build and edit programs — including array data and auto learning — or does every change need a service visit?
Program portability. Can programs be exported, stored and restored, and can a program built for one machine run on another?
Documentation. Is there a written programming guide and a setup sheet per product, or only handover training?
Spare parts and tooling. Nozzles, grippers and wear items are consumables — confirm availability and lead time before you need them.
Verification criteria. What acceptance check follows a program change: sample board, insert height measurement, polarity check, clinch inspection?

ROI and quality perspective

From a buyer's perspective, the programming method is one of the few things on a THT line that improves cost and quality at the same time:

Programming hours are front-loaded, then reused. Array data and automatic learning shorten the first setup, and the stored program is the asset you re-run on the next order. On a panel or a repetitive board, the saving is not incremental — it is the difference between teaching one pattern and teaching sixty points.
Consistency is the quality argument. A hand-inserted odd-form part takes a variable amount of time depending on operator familiarity, part orientation and presentation. Southern Machinery's published analysis of manual odd-form insertion notes that this variability, across a 5,000-board run with four odd-form components per board, can add hours of unplanned labour, and that manual insertion consistently produces higher rates of floating high, mis-insertion and reverse insertion.
Defect cost is asymmetrical. A part caught at the insertion station costs a re-insert. The same defect found after wave soldering and cleaning costs desoldering, hole cleaning, re-insertion and re-soldering — several minutes per board, with the risk of damaging adjacent parts. For a multi-pin transformer, a single non-seated pin can become a field failure costing many times the board's assembly value.
Predictable cycle time enables line balancing. A programmed odd-form station inserts to the same cycle regardless of shift, so THT capacity planning and throughput forecasting are based on a number rather than on operator skill.
Changeover economics decide high-mix profitability. If programming and verification time per new product is short and the program library is reusable, more variants fit into the same shift. If not, the machine is busy being programmed rather than producing.

Model it with your own numbers: odd-form components per board, boards per order, current programming hours per new product, present mis-insert and rework rate, and the cost of a defect found after soldering. For most plants the arithmetic favours a machine with a real programming environment — and a team trained to use it — long before it favours more manual stations.

FAQ

What is "array data" on an odd-form insertion machine?

Array data is program data that defines a repeating pattern: one taught insertion position plus the array geometry (rows, columns and pitch in X and Y). It lets a program place the same component repeatedly across a board or across every board in a multi-up panel without teaching each position separately.

What does "automatic learning" mean on an odd-form inserter?

Automatic learning means the machine captures reference positions — typically pickup and insertion references — itself, and the operator confirms what the machine has recorded, rather than measuring and typing every value by hand. It reduces both programming time and the risk of entry errors in the program.

How long does it take to program an odd-form insertion machine for a new board?

It depends on the number of distinct odd-form components, how repetitive the layout is, and how the program is built. Boards with repeated patterns and multi-up panels benefit most from array data, because the repeated positions are programmed once. Ask a supplier to demonstrate programming on one of your own boards rather than on a demo layout.

Can odd-form machine programs be backed up or moved to another machine?

Program data handling is a specification item to confirm — export, backup, restore and transfer between machines. Plants running the same product on two lines, or returning a machine after service, need this to be a documented feature rather than an assumption.

Which components are suitable for odd-form auto insertion?

Parts that are dimensionally consistent enough for programmable tooling: connectors, transformers, relays, fuse holders, terminal blocks, radial electrolytic capacitors, inductors and optoelectronic parts. The general rule is medium-to-high volume per SKU, so the programming and tooling investment is amortised over repeat orders.

Do I need a machine engineer, or can an operator build the program?

With a documented programming guide, a setup sheet per product and training, a senior operator or process technician can build and edit programs. The critical requirements are documented procedures, controlled access to program data, and a verification step after every change.

How does programming fit the rest of the THT line?

The odd-form inserter is an inline station upstream of wave soldering, working alongside radial inserters and terminal/PIN inserters. Its output feeds soldering, lead cutting, cleaning and inspection, so a program error is not contained at the insertion station — it becomes defects at the most expensive inspection points downstream.

Contact Southern Machinery

Southern Machinery (Shenzhen, China; established 2011; 237+ global customers) designs and manufactures SMT, THT and PCB assembly automation — insertion machines, wave soldering, board handling, cleaning, inspection and the spare parts, training and retrofit services around them.

For help evaluating an odd-form insertion machine, programming support, training for your operators, or the full THT insertion block of your line, contact the team:

Email: [jasonwu@smthelp.com](mailto:jasonwu@smthelp.com)
Website: www.smthelp.com
Catalogs, manuals & documents: file.autoinsertion.com
Product images: ph.smthelp.com
Machine operation manuals & training: SMT/THT machine operation manual library on smthelp.com

Watch the odd-form machine training series on the Southern Machinery YouTube channel, including this lesson on array data and automatic learning.