After soldering, it is crucial to check the component placement quality. Since we focus on low-mix high volume production automated optical inspection (AOI) suits our needs. When the AOI starts, the operator prepares it with a designated program.
The main purpose of it is to check printed circuit board assemblies for flaws (PCBAs). AOI uses cameras to scan PCBAs and finds two categories of defects: catastrophic failures, such missing components, and quality failures, like crooked fillets or skewed components.
We use OMRON VT-S530 AOI machine, which has two conveyors for both sides of the PCB board. In the machine there are sensors which detect the arrival of the PCB. Inside the machine there is a camera which captures the whole cycle. Then the software determines if there is not any disreptancies. If there are no mistakes the board enters the pass section and if a single mistake is found it enters the check section. Even if the board passes the inpection, if there’s any components required for x-ray checking the board gets additionally checked. The machine has the ability to store and retrieve data about the PCBAs and their inspection results.
