Design of an automatic lead inspection system: an integrated application of machine vision and robotics

The development and design are described of a machine-vision-based lead-inspection system used in the semiconductor assembly process and completely developed and integrated by the Factory Automation Group at Intel Corporation. The motivation behind the project is discussed, as are design considerations, features of major components, and how state-of-the-art vision and robot technologies are integrated to provide a total system solution. A flexible lead-inspection system has been in production since the beginning of 1987 and has inspected over one million plastic leaded chip carrier packages. The system´s performance indicators have either met or exceeded engineering expectations. The part manipulation and vision subsystems support a three-second cycle per part. Speed and consistency are superior to manual inspection using comparators. The system is often used as a standard in bringing up other dedicated inspection equipment.<>