Opinions about AOI Machines

Opinions are like a A holes....everybody has one. Make sure to include Mirtec in your tabletop AOI evaluation.

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Good day,

I worked with Maratnz some time ago. My own opinion is that this is limited machine with limited functions. Main disadvantages are:

- Rather costly, something about 100 KEUR per table top machine; - 2D scanning system (direct light module with oblique light module); - Filtered image processing is the core of Marantz inspection principle, but you have to spend a lot of time for proper filter adjustment; - Skips open joints due to 2D scanning system - Unable to read component codes made by laser even using special laser filter; - Unable to inspect wrapped boards, machine gives a lot of failure alarms during wrapped board inspection; - Machine adjustment takes a lot of time. I think that even two days are not enough to setup new product; - Software bugs, machine hanged up without explainable reason; - MAC OS

BR, Pavel

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Need more info..

SMT only inspection? SMT/TH inspection? Solderability inspecting? OCR/OVT inspecting? (reading letters and number) Lots of alternate parts? Established database driven programming software? (Circuit CAM, Flexa, Assembly Expert, CIMBridge etc..) Is your current goal to contain defects or optimize process?

These questions are crucial for attain the right tool for the job.

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The best way to compare is ask each machine company to bring their machine in for a demo. Since they are bench-top machines, they are easy to transport. Pick one of your boards for them to run. Don't send any board data ahead of time. When they come in, show them the board and give them the data then. Be sure to have 20 or so of this board. Also, have one board containing all of the defects you normally get. After they program the "golden" board, run the remaining 19 or so to de-bug the program. Then introduce the board with defects. See which machine finds them all. It is also a good test to run the same board over and over again to see which machine gives more consistent results. A good machine will give exact same results over repeated inspections of the same board. Do the same with the defect-induced board to see which machine finds the defects consistently. Use these same boards with each company's machine. Be sure make the defects on the board look like they do in the real world. A bad example of an artificially induced defect is a lifted lead. Taking a soldering iron to a good board to lift a lead is not good practice. It in no way looks like the defect off the line. Or, taking a solder sucker to a location to remove solder to detect insufficient solder, not good. The best method is to induce your defects at pre-reflow, so they look like what occurs off your equipment.

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All I can say is YESTECH: most bang for the buck!!!! We have both the 1000 and 2000

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With any AOI machine, it will only be successful if your programmer is interested in getting it to run well.

It is not rocket science, but if you want low false calls you need to invest time and energy into programming, especially if you have a high mix of product, or high variability in your process.

I prefer Omron for the colour highlight method. The rest are all grey scale. If you are looking at Omron, go for the pixel counting machine rather than the pattern matching one.

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I've been using an Omrom machine for over 5 years now. I have mixed feelings about it. It has paid for itself many times over, but it needs constant tweaking. Constant tweaking is something I believe all AOI machines need, but the way our system works aggravates the problem. It was a $250k machine at the time- top of the Omron line.

Tech support is very good, providing you can get a hold of the *one* guy that does it well. If he's on vacation, you're out of luck until he gets back.

We visited Omron in Chicago and spent a week there with our board- yes, board- 10 up panel with 26 components per panel, programming and performing the acceptance test. Looking back, I would have visited their customer sites and picked the brains of the people who have to keep the equipment running. Their trainer was a whiz at getting things started, but he doesn't have to deal with all the odd situations that occur during production in thousands and hundreds of thousands.

Even after all these years, after I and another engineer have tweaked the machine, an occasional escapee will occur. A default that is obvious, but no amount of tweaking could cause to fail without raising the false call level to an unworkable situation. 26 components, 5 years later and it still needs tweaked.

The most irritating aspect of the machine is the image recognition. You can teach a component, pad and all down to thousandths of an inch. Yet, the image recognition software might mistakingly read the top of the electrode on the upper end of the component as the lower end pad and completely shift the location of the inspection area. Drag the window to where it belongs and pass with flying colors. I will never understand why the blasted thing allows for the pad layout to shift more than a few mils. I've seen it shift the pads by an entire 0805 component.

The one other aspect of the machine that I find irritating is the way it "ANDs" or "ORs" conditions. It will pass or fail a certain characteristic based on and conditions or 'or' conditions. There are times when 1 of the 'ands' will fail miserably, but the other will pass with flying colors. Get the passing one to fail and the one that failed now passes. Unexplainably irritating when the value is being compared to a max! (a<=100 HUH?!)

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thanks all for your opinion. As someone said, Opinions are as holes, and colours... I've finally choosen the Marantz. I saw it working, and I liked it. I think its better MAC than windows for working with images, and the truth is that I know more companies (near me) which own Marantz machines than the other two.

Thanks again.

Sergio.

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Do you guys have exprienced programming on this aoi machines!!! please give me some advices about how to program!!!!

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