In the manufacturing field, there are chances that there may be an occurrence of human error and bugs that may affect the quality of the devices manufactured. This process is essential in the production of quality electronic devices. It helps in identifying faults in devices by the designers before releasing it into the market. Getting to know such problems in the early stages is essential since it ensures excellent functionality and performance of the product. The following are the popular methods of PCB inspection.
Automated X-ray- AXI
Surface-mounted technology creates compact sized and dense circuit boards that are invisible with the naked eye. Therefore it becomes difficult to inspect and verify their functionality. AXI, therefore, is utilized in this case. An X-ray can penetrate those circuits and identify any wrong alignment, and many others have taken photographs. Experts, in turn, will compare these images to determine any defect in printed circuit border
Visual
Here a detector or naked eyes can be used while inspecting different components. The position in which an expert is checking determines the type of tool to be used. Some are seen by naked eyes, while others require devices such as Z high-degree detector for inspection. At reflow, joints are where the use of a prism commonly applies visual methods of inspecting through analyzing of a light ray reflected using an array of perspectives.
Automated optical
LED libraries that are programmable, several cameras, and light sources are some of the tools used here. This method is standard and very comprehensive in the PCB inspection. It is fast hence consumes less time in identifying and correcting defects since within a single second, and it can monitor 30-50 joints. Nowadays, this method is highly utilized while inspecting components that have pitches with measurements of 0.5mm and are complex shaped. In early days automated optical was not used since it was not ideal for measuring solder joints height on Printed Circuit Boards. However, nowadays, the method is used due to the invention of the AOI system that is 3D.
First article
This method is used to ensure that surface mounted technology tool is appropriately set. SMT profoundly influences the functionality of PCB. To produce a good quality of printed circuit boards, an expert should ensure that SMT is adequately functional. It helps in the identification of issues with alignment and vacuum nozzles so that the experts can avoid them during volume production.
