Image processing comfort is the key

The main difference between image processing systems is the user's comfort and operability.

As the function of the processor continues to increase, the image processing systems are becoming more and more similar. With regard to the economical use of a system, more and more aspects, such as operation and user comfort, play a decisive role.

According to the latest VDMA survey report, there are more than 200 manufacturers of image processing systems in Germany. Germany is one of the most innovative markets in image processing. Numerous image processing systems have been introduced. For example, to solve a specific task, there will be many technically suitable systems to choose from.

The comparison of clearly defined technical points such as speed, number of inspection methods, or interfaces that can be used does not greatly assist in the final decision. Technical data can be compared, such as a closer look at the user's comfort, flexibility, and operation. These standards will be more economical than most other technologies.

Especially on the graphic processing system, the subsequent maintenance costs are problems that need to be seriously considered. If new parts must be inspected afterwards, these parts should be as simple as possible. In this regard, an interface that can be adjusted by personality has more advantages than a fixed user interface.

Particularly difficult to estimate is the reliability of the inspection. For some time, there are some innovative methods available, such as the use of profiling and analysis. These methods work very stably and reliably, allowing past parameters to be optimized and adjusted at any time.

Safe and reliable

The security of the system itself is also of great significance. In general, small systems based on special hardware are more reliable than systems based on PCs because worn parts such as hard disks or similar components must be used on the PC. However, because PCs are highly flexible and easy to operate, they cannot always be avoided. For example, a standard machine has good selectivity. Because of its large number of units, it is also more technically more mature than the programming machine. Contrary to personalized solutions, they can also be quickly replaced in the event of a failure without the problems of compatibility. Because the software interface is very rich, it is no less flexible than the programmed system.

Even today, checking for the presence of a component is one of the most common tasks in image processing. A simple check only checks the existence of certain parts. It can be solved economically using a small system like Matsushita (see the lower part of Figure 1). More complex tasks have many different parts that need to be inspected or need to be checked by multiple cameras. In this case, it is more appropriate to use a standard PC-based system such as P400 (see upper part of Figure 1). After 10 million trials of hardware and software, the algorithm has matured and the user's guidance has been tested, which can greatly facilitate the set up and optimization.

A famous door lock system manufacturer manufactures a variety of door locks on a production facility. At the same time, the assembly parts are manually loaded into the basic lock box and then assembled automatically. The difficulty here is that parts can easily flip and bounce back without control. There is an existing device that has used the traditional method in the past. Each time the product is replaced, the parameters need to be fully optimized. The result is a very high cost.

The software just analyzes and uses the outline of the component

Using powerful software can avoid these tedious tasks. P400's Power-Matching (power adaptation) is only used to analyze the use of the outline of the components, which independently calculate the mathematical model of these components. With this additional knowledge, it is possible to reliably identify these components even when the brightness fluctuates greatly or when some components are obstructed (right in FIG. 2). The Power-Matching work is very stable and basically does not need to be optimized after it is set up. According to the user, due to the simple and reliable operation of the equipment, the annual savings can be about 5000 euros.

The next inspection task requires the simplest possible interface. The customer produces aluminum or steel pipes. According to the user's requirements, these pipes are to be made with various crimps, threads or handles, while also taking in a variety of different sizes such as diameter, radius, edge width and Angular, pitch or parallelism.

Originally used were two sets of image processing systems, each operated by a trained staff member. Due to quality offensives, the visual inspection of all 17 sets of equipment needs to be expanded. Therefore, combined with the production of large-scale products, there must be a large number of inspection procedures. In order to maintain the flexibility of production, every worker should now be able to use image processing programs independently. The time for refitting to a new model must not exceed 4 minutes. To do this requires a user interface that is as simple and easy to operate as possible.

In this regard, the P400's various software interfaces can provide tremendous help, as can be seen from Figure 3. The user selects the appropriate model from 15 different basic models (such as thread or angular dimensions). Then he simply moves the inspection part to the correct position on the screen, giving the dimensions and tolerances. All internal inspection parameters, such as gray scale thresholds, corner pockets, and similar parameters are automatically optimized by the P400 using the photographs taken at the time, and measurements can be started with the press of a button.

After the system was introduced, it showed that the original 4min conversion time was almost impossible to use in most cases. The average modification time is 2.3 min. In the original manual modification, it took up to 30 minutes.

The combination of the standard software and the interface adjusted according to individuality proved to be of great benefit to the customer. For example, through the refresh, the software can always maintain the latest technology level. The P400 uses standardized hardware and software interfaces and can be smoothly replaced even after several years. This is not a matter of course in the PC world where life cycles are rapidly changing.

Subsequent costs play a significant role in the total cost of the image processing system. The use of user interfaces and powerful software algorithms tailored to individuality can save operating costs. Even if the cost of acquisition is relatively high, subsequent operating costs will soon be reversed.

Soft Printed Circuit Board Defect Detection Technology

A flexible printed circuit (FPC) is a printed circuit board made of a flexible substrate. Because of its flexibility, it can be used in products with limited space and special shapes. Three-dimensional three-dimensional wiring, so that products meet the needs of light, thin, short and small, so widely used in notebook computers, mobile phones, LCD monitors, cameras and other electronic products. In the past, the defects of the circuit were manually detected for the soft board. With the miniaturization and thinning of components in the electronics industry, the demand for the speed of the production line is also increasing. The manual inspection has failed to take into account the quality. With the requirement of speed, the demand for using automatic optical inspection equipment also increases.

Automatic Optical Inspection (AOI) uses optical, mechanical, electronic control, and software to replace the human eye. The software part is like the human brain. The signal received by the eye is determined by a specific algorithm. Whether there are defects. In the development of automated optical inspection equipment, in addition to good optical and institutional design, electromechanical integration, how to develop correct and reliable algorithms for the items to be detected is also a very important part.

Use machine vision technology to detect defects on flexible circuit boards. Since the soft board is very thin and soft, the lighting and the adsorption must be overcome in the design of the machine platform to ensure good quality images, so that subsequent defect detection can avoid too many heavy calculations. The detection method must first perform the alignment processing between the standard master image and the test image, and then perform image subtraction and morphological processing. After the second phase comparison, the position of the defect can be obtained.