SPI

3D Solder Paste Inspection (by MVT)

The picture below is of an SP-1 solder paste inspection machine that I helped to develop at MVT (now part of Agilent Technologies). My part was to integrate a 3D sensing system (hardware and software) into the existing inspection system (used for component placement inspection).

If you open the front-top hatch (the dark part on the top of the machine), you see the insides. The blue box is the 3D sensor that I used to get range profiles of the solder paste. The PCBs came into the machine from the left or right along a conveyor belt (silver rails in the picture below).

Several of the SP1 machines were sold, however the newest machine (the SP-50, series III -- PDF File) is about 50 times faster than the SP1 was.

The SP1 was only capable of sampled 3D inspection (only critical sites were inspected), with 100% 2D coverage. The newer machines can perform 100% 3D coverage.