Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1437606
24 PCB007 MAGAZINE I DECEMBER 2021 parameter files and data. But as our equipment is waiting for specialist data, we defined an easy way to have this connection for the smaller fac- tories. It's easier for them to configure through an XML file, which is a really simple and reli- able solution in which all the parameters will be set through panels and will be sent to the machine. Johnson: When working with direct imag- ing, the soware controls how you manage and then apply that image onto the material. ose data prep functions are not that differ- ent from printing on paper, or other driving displays. I'm thinking about functionality such as clipping, rasterization, scaling, and transfor- mation, etc. What sort of R&D is underway at Altix for image management? Boureau: A lot. If we look at what we are doing right now in R&D around direct imaging, there are two main subjects. e first one is produc- tivity. Even if our equipment today can meet all the productivity needs of most of our custom- ers, we still work on it because it's the thing regarding direct imaging when compared to photo exposure units. We are working on what we can find around the image, the file, and the data rasterization in direct imaging; this is also the main aspect we are working on with direct imaging. ere are many things to work with regarding the files and the image processing in direct imaging. In 2018, for example, we started adding a clip- ping function into our reel-to-reel equipment which is a way to bring very long images into a machine which is otherwise not able to print such long images. For example, our reel-to-reel ADIX unit can print up to 685-millimeter image lengths. But in some of the PCB applications that we have now, such as for 5G or for automotive battery interconnection, and so on, we have more requests asking for 10 meters, 100 meters, and even longer. With the clipping function we can take this quite long Gerber, 10 meters, for example, and to clip it in several small images, print each image through the right imaging The Altix Acura Premium series is fully automatic and capable of medium- and high-volume production.