Hey I got an idea .... Why don't you actually start a company that employs people in this bad economy to make pick and place machines !
Open source projects are usually started by financially secure people with an axe to grind ! Whats your story ?
Lets ruin another industry. Hey we have CNC routers under $1000, fully built controllers under $400 (wow the person makes $20 ) lots of stepper drives for under $60. And we have millions of people without Jobs !