Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1424540
NOVEMBER 2021 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 45 Critical reliability issues have driven the need for advancements in measuring thickness. is critical quality assessment tool is something that the inspection equipment series can pro- vide through non-destructive testing at pro- duction speed. SMT007 Axel Lindloff is a pre-sales application engineer at Koh Young Europe. Heriberto Cuevas is an application engineering project manager at Koh Young America. Brent A. Fischthal is senior marketing manager at Koh Young America. • A bad coating application can leave particles in orbit that may result in a short circuit or can reduce the PCB protection from environmental contaminants like dust, moisture, and corrosive vapors. In some products, conformal coating is applied to give some structural integrity. If there is not a good detection of coating de- fects, PCBs, as a part of a final assembly, can have a reduced lifetime, or even worse, a mal- function during regular operation. Consid- er some modules in a car, composed of sever- al PCBs requiring strong bonds, protected by conformal coating against vibration and me- chanical shocks. If this protection is inade- quate or defective, it could cause an accident because of an electronic module malfunction that was supposedly protected by a coating. nology delivers non-destructive 3D inspection to precisely measure and inspect fluids. Koh Young's LIFT technology delivers non-destructive 3D inspec- tion to precisely measure and inspect fluids that are wet or dry. Based on low-coherence interferometry, LIFT employs near infrared (NIR) light to capture im- ages through multiple layers of a fluid structure re- gardless of transparency, providing accurate and reliable 3D inspection across any surface—smooth, uneven, or rough. Using LIFT technology, Neptune allows manufacturers to accurately identify defects without damaging or destroying the product. Machine Learning With its machine learning (ML) algorithm, this system accurately measures materials for cover- age, thickness, and consistency using user-defined threshold settings. It also inspects bubbles, cracks, and other defects, and inspects "keep out" areas for splash marks. With this proprietary machine learn- ing technology, this system offers enhanced inspec- tion capabilities enabling autonomous inspection without teaching or endless tuning. Beyond Coatings Besides coatings, the inspection system mea- sures underfill, epoxy, bonding, glue, and more, delivering accurate measurements of transparent, translucent, and pigmented materials. The system is currently suited for acrylic, silicone, polyurethane, water-based, UV-cure, and hybrid coatings with ad- ditional materials being investigated. It handles sev- eral types of applications spanning research labs to high-volume electronics inspection. Inspection systems used in electronics manu- facturing could traditionally detect the presence of coating. However, the systems could not inspect the thickness at production speed.This missing element meant some PCBs passed through the production line wit out the correct protective layer. SMT007