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June 2017 • SMT Magazine 15 3D: TOWARDS BETTER INSPECTION CAPABILITY parts," he said. "If you start seeing a part or a corner higher, then that tells you that you haven't properly reflowed or that there was some type of outgassing event underneath that part, which should then trigger you to do more X-ray analysis. "The beauty of the 3D AOI is that it's faster, it's more effective, and it'll tell you whether or not your parts are all co-planar. It's really aided us in our ability to do better inspection." On this, Peallat commented that Vi TECH- NOLOGY is also developing a way to make smart use of X-ray system. "We are develop- ing solutions to enable the link you just men- tioned. I'm talking about 3D inspection at the printer, at the post reflow stage, and being able to look at the data and use the data. We are working with X-ray companies to be able to uti- lize our data to drive a better X-ray inspection and focus on what matters," Peallat explained. "In fact, we want to offer solutions to our cus- tomers for smarter inspection strategy through the line, with the sole objective to guarantee the quality of the products by achieving zero defects line. Yes, 3D improves the detection of co-planarity defects even for very small compo- nents. The only point I would like to highlight here is that the challenge for 3D AOI equip- ment is to be able to inspect very small joints but also, at the same time, inspect the tall com- ponent. There are different technologies. Us- ers need to make sure that their system is able to check coplanarities on the component taller than 5mm while, at the same time, their system checks for the quality of the joints for smaller components. That's a real challenge for the 3-D AOI technology." Asked whether circuit board designers keep in mind designing a board for inspection or measurement, Peallat said inspection today is not driving the design yet. "I have seen that for years in the 2D inspection. For example, there are some component colors that are not the best for 2D inspection, but people kept us- ing those colors to design PCBs. We could have the same comment for text without any indus- try standards. We had to work and be creative to overcome all those challenges. I would say to- day, AOI is not an input in the design for man- ufacturing," he noted. Key Considerations When it comes to inspection, one of the key important considerations an EMS or PCB assembler should have is an understanding of their defects spectrum, according to Peallat. "You will say, 'Okay, but I need inspection to understand that'. That's why inspection goes along with a learning curve. I think most of the users today prefer 'end of the line' inspection as it gives the feeling of security," he explained. "We do believe that the future of the inspection is more about the complete solution. I think that's the trend you can see in the market today. "For me, especially when you have multi- ple lines like EMS companies, one of the keys is the portability of the inspection programs from one line to another. It's something that is very important for users, and it is clearly embedded in the technology used by AOI or SPI systems. This is not often the case, and talking about any inspection strategy in an EMS company is all about flexibility, and sharing between lines." McMeen considers educating their designers more as one of the critical factors in their test and inspection strategy. "If you get parts that are too tall, we can't get our probes in to the real small ones that are in the shadow of these real tall ones. On high-reliability stuff, we spend a whole lot of time trying to make sure that we have access points, test points or access ways so that we can test the board. At the same time, we're trying to educate and move in that regard. We're also trying to do it with the intent that we can get better AOI coverage," he said. "With the introduction of 3D AOI, we now have the ability to do a better job of inspecting boards for solderability and even for bottom-terminated components due to co-planarity. We can now " McMeen considers educating their designers more as one of the critical factors in their test and in- spection strategy. "