PCB Tech - AOI system is an important part of PCB production

AOI system is an important part of PCB production

The AOI system is the coming Industry 4.0 and connected factories, and the inspection of the machine will serve as the brain of the PCB factory

Fifteen years ago, the AOI system had a bit of a bad reputation. Many of them are unemployed, and there are many PCB factories with machines still packed in boxes and dust gathered in the corners.

Fast forward to today, they are now an important part of any line. Driven by miniaturization, manufacturers need higher reliability and output and traceability required by customers, and it is difficult to find a modern facility that is not equipped with at least one AOI machine. They inspect the board with amazing speed and accuracy, identify defects or areas of concern and perform strict pass/fail decisions to the operator who isolates it for further inspection or rework.

In the future AOI and its 3D sister, SPI will take a brand new role. So far, they have had the eye on the production line.

With the upcoming PCB Industry 4.0 and connected factories, the inspection of the machine will serve as the brain of the PCB factory. Using high-precision metering, they will not only identify defects or insufficient paste deposits, missing components, etc., they will pass instructions to the printer and the placement machine to correct these defects in real time.

The result will be an immediate enhancement of reliability and output in the line and the end of the weekly meeting in the last week that details how much waste your production has produced!

Bit humans will replace them with more efficient, accurate and effective system work 24/7, no complaints, no holidays for themselves!

When can we see these miraculous systems appear? The answer is that they have begun to appear with the ASM assembly system, Panasonic, Yamaha and JUKI. They can automatically correct the offset indication from all reports on the SPI system printer. Of course, there are many more parameters that may be adjusted to improve the printing effect, such as squeegee pressure, printing stroke angle and speed. There is no doubt that these features will.

Even between the machines there to check the evidence and communicate with themselves. The MIRTEC intelligent tracking system allows the AOI system to communicate with the SPI further online to inform about the defects in the further offline.

Then to use the human analogy, if the machine checks the line of the brain, then in the selection and place the machine is the hand and central nervous system software. Bit humans will replace them with more efficient, accurate and effective system work 24/7, no complaints, no holidays for themselves!

A dangerous idea, but one of the real concerns facing PCB manufacturers is the lack of engineering and technical talents. The factories of the future may require fewer engineers, but the premium for talented engineers and extensive process knowledge will undoubtedly rise.

The above is the analysis about the AOI system as an important part of PCB production.