The first self-learning Expert System for Electronics Manufacturing

The Hardware: ASM ProcessLens

Repeatability and accuracy are key requirements of any measurement equipment. However, as we have come to realize in the wake of the Covid pandemic and lockdowns, ease of use and reliability are equally important. The performance of production equipment should be independent of a user’s skill level. With ASM ProcessLens, this becomes possible:

• Less false calls: ASM ProcessLens uses combined 2D & 3D measurements to filter out noise from the PCB surface originating from features such as silk screen, solder mask and reflection form vias. Our advanced vision algorithm and a flexible LED lighting system isolate the solder paste deposits for 3D volume measurement.
• Accurate solder volume measurements: ASM ProcessLens uses Moiré pattern projection via a DLP (Digital Light Processing) chip with 8 million digitally controllable micro-mirrors. The greater flexibility and reliability of the DLP compared to systems that use gratings and piezo electric elements enables true warpage measurement instead of the image distortion analysis usually applied in standard SPIs to estimate warpage. With warpage measured for every FOV (Field of View), the optical head’s Z-height is adjusted for maximum accuracy.
• Accurate offset measurements: With an industry leading X/Y gantry accuracy of ± 12.5 μm (at ± 3σ), ASM ProcessLens is able to reliably and accurately measure print offset.

The Software: ASM ProcessEngine

DEK’s decades of stencil printing experience is implemented through ASM ProcessEngine’s proprietary algorithm to provide recommendations from the NPI phase and autonomously monitor and optimize the production process in high volume production.

• Get it right the first time: DFM HealthCheck analyzes your stencil gerber and process parameters (such as solder paste, stencil material, PCB support type, etc.) to ensure that all stencil apertures are reliably printable. This makes the NPI process error proof and much less dependent on the user’s skill level.
• Autonomous Process Optimization: ASM ProcessEngine implements offset correction and clean rate optimization in a smarter way compared to basic closed loop systems. For example, with closed loop systems, offset correction is implemented based on average offset values reported by the SPI. ASM ProcessEngine instead selects critical apertures (typically fine pitched and small apertures) when performing offset correction. ASM ProcessEngine is also able to perform a fractional factorial experiment which can improve the print process standard deviation without creating any defects, i.e boards used in the experiment can be used for production.
• Proactive control and self-healing: Once the print process has been optimized, ASM ProcessEngine continuously monitors for any drift and will intervene by adjusting the USC (under-stencil cleaning) frequency or performing and emergency USC wipe.

With ASM ProcessExpert, tedious and error prone tasks can be automated to improve your line productivity and yield as well as reduce the time-to-market, maximizing competitiveness!

For more information, please contact us at smt-solutions.sg@asmpt.com.