Microscan will produce a powerful tool in the total quality control of PCB assemblies, which can also reduce the cost of the manufacturing process and will provide an impetus to the PCB industry in Europe.

Strategic Objectives

1. To overcome current problems encountered in Printed Circuit Board (PCB) inspection by developing 4 non-destructive Testing (NDT) inspection systems.
2. Combine the developed systems within a PCB assembly system to produce new innovative in-line inspection techniques, which will provide full quality control of the PCB assembly process.

• Development of an X-ray system for the real-time identification and quantification of defects in PCBs.
• Development of acoustic systems for potential in-line inspection of PCBs.
• Improvement of AOI systems and data recognition.
• Development of thermal/ infrared systems for potential in-line inspection of PCBs.
• Provision of feedback mechanisms for the real-time control of the PCB assembly process.
• Development of features which allow the NDT systems to be complimentarily integrated.
• Development of the above systems for use on the new lead-free solder alloys.
• Increase Probability of Detection (PoD) of defects in lead-free solder by 40%.
• Increase PoD in standard solder by 20%.