System and method for assessing quality of electronic components

A method of determining reliability of an electronic component, the method comprising:

• providing a pick and place system comprising at least one pick and place machine with an imaging system operable to use at least one imaging modality to acquire an image of an electrical contact element of an electronic component used for providing electrical contact to the electronic component during assembly of an electronic circuitry in which the electronic component is to be used;
• setting a receptive field of a convolutional neural network (CNN) so that a spatial resolution of the CNN is sufficient to determine a roughness and/or waviness exhibited by texture of a surface of the electrical contact element imaged in the image;
• processing the image using the CNN to determine within a time period between a pick and place time of the pick and place machine roughness and/or waviness exhibited by texture of the surface of the electrical contact element;
• and
• using the determined texture roughness and/or waviness to provide within the time period between picking and placing the electronic component in the circuitry an indication of reliability of the electronic component;
• and
• if the electronic component is indicated to be unreliable, preventing the component from being used in the electronic circuitry.