Automatic generation of IC component configuration data

Chip mounters and surface mount device (SMD) inspection systems use image processing techniques for the placement of SMDs onto printed circuit boards (PCB) and the inspection of SMDs. Such techniques require the component configuration data which define the shape of SMDs; however, the creation of this data is currently not automated. The goal of this paper is to offer a system that generates component configuration data automatically by processing images of SMDs. There are several target components, such as IC, BGA (ball grid array), chips, connectors, etc., for which data can be generated. In this paper we will focus on generation of data for IC components. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 165(4): 76–83, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.20686