Multi-modal imaging

An automatic optical inspection system capable of scanning a surface with a number of different illumination configurations comprising:

• an imaging unit comprising at least one camera and at least one illumination unit, wherein the at least one illumination unit is configured for providing illumination in each of the different illumination configurations and wherein the at least one camera is configured for capturing a series of images over one sweep, each image of the sequence including one or more lines of pixels;
• a scanning unit configured for providing translation between the surface and the imaging unit at a resolution in the order of magnitude of one pixel or less;
• and
• a controller configured for activating each of the different illumination configurations based on a pre-defined sequence and repeating the sequence for the duration of the sweep and for activating the camera to capture an image during each illumination activation.