Apparatus, system, and method for backdrilling vias based on depth measurements taken during primary drilling applications

An apparatus comprising:

• a sensor to sense an alteration made to an electrical signal through a conductive drill bit of a drilling machine;
• a processor;
• and
• a non-transitory storage medium storing computer-readable instructions that upon execution on the processor cause the processor to:
• measure a depth of a ground layer in a circuit board based on contact detected between the conductive drill bit and the ground layer in response to an output of the sensor;
• access data stored in a memory, the data comprising information of a thickness of the ground layer, and a thickness of a material between the ground layer and an electrical layer in the circuit board;
• calculate a depth of the electrical layer based on the depth of the ground layer, the thickness of the ground layer in the accessed data, and the thickness of the material in the accessed data;
• and
• calculate a depth of a backdrill hole to the electrical layer based on the depth of the electrical layer.

A method comprising:

• measuring, by circuitry, a depth of a ground layer in a circuit board based on contact made between a conductive drill bit and the ground layer;
• accessing, by the circuitry, data stored in a memory, the data comprising information of a thickness of the ground layer, and a thickness of a material between the ground layer and an electrical layer in the circuit board;
• calculating, by the circuitry, a depth of the electrical layer based on the depth of the ground layer, the thickness of the ground layer in the accessed data, and the thickness of the material in the accessed data;
• calculating, by the circuitry, a depth of a backdrill hole to the electrical layer based on the depth of the electrical layer;
• and
• directing, by the circuitry, a drilling machine to drill the backdrill hole that ends before the electrical layer based on the depth of the backdrill hole.