OSSO: an open-source DIY machine that makes PCBs with a laser

OSSO takes a copper-clad blank and removes the copper you don't want with a laser, leaving your traces and pads. No etching tank, no mill bits. It is built from 2020/2040 aluminium extrusion, MGN12 rails, printed parts and laser-cut sheet, and sits on its own rolling cart.

Please read:

Open source. The design is developed in the open.
A design exploration, NOT FOR SALE. There is no kit, no pre-order and nothing to buy. It has not been built or tested yet.
AI-driven co-design. A person sets the goals, reviews the work and makes the decisions. An AI assistant does much of the CAD modelling, analysis and documentation.

CAD render of the OSSO machine on its rolling cart — CAD render: the machine on its single-frame rolling cart (model run of Oct 26, 2026).

What's in the machine

Laser and galvo

A pulsed laser source with a galvo scanner and a 150 mm f-theta field. Focus is set by hand: the source carriage slides on a rail and clamps with two M5 bolts, with a printed scale and a set stop at a 190 mm working distance. A fused-silica window keeps the optics clean.

Motion stage

A custom bed-slinger frame in 2020/2040 extrusion. MGN12 linear rails and lead screws on all axes, with a heated bed under the work area and a tool head with an 80 mm Z axis.

Tray and cassettes

A motorized tray, 300 mm wide, with 8 rows of 72 pockets. It loads from two pull-out cassettes that locate on dowels and snap in with a flexure latch.

Cameras

A down-looking 8 MP head camera with a ring light, an up-looking camera for the nozzles, and a wide 120° chamber camera shown on the screen. Cameras only image with the laser disabled.

Enclosure and safety

1.5 mm aluminium panels, matte black inside against stray UV. A counterweighted slide-up door with an interlock, E-stop, key switch, and lasing only when the tray is fully back. Side fume exit with an inline fan.

Cart and controls

One extrusion frame from castors to top, about 1103 x 773 x 1390 mm overall, with lockable castors and leveling feet. Shelves hold the chiller, laser base and fan. A 10.1" touchscreen runs the HMI on a Raspberry Pi 5.

Where the design is

The current top-level CAD model has 601 bodies in 11 sub-assemblies, a combined bill of materials of 289 lines, and a 48-pose interference sweep. Custom parts are FDM-printed, mSLA-printed or laser-cut only, so they can be made in a home shop or by common online services. Many values are still marked as assumptions or open items to check on real hardware.

Design process WORK IN PROGRESS

These pages document how OSSO is being designed. They are incomplete and change often; older pages describe ideas that have since been dropped.

Development journal: day-by-day notes (359 entries).
Version timeline: frozen snapshots (18 so far), with the latest version (v18).
Decisions and design rules, to-do list, pending adjustments, references and tools.

Full model and build files are coming soon. The complete CAD model, BOM and assembly directions will be published here once they are cleaned up.