Inspection system and method for bond detection and validation of surface mount devices

A computer readable medium having a program for detecting solder joint defects on surface mount components on a printed wiring board, the program comprising:

• means for receiving visual inspection information from a machine vision sensor, said visual inspection information used to develop programmed rectangular windows from which sub-images of said surface mount component are developed, said sub-images used to develop a one-dimensional vector corresponding to placement of said surface mount component on the printed wiring board, said one-dimensional vector having peaks and valleys, wherein said peaks represent solder joints amid said valleys represent a substrate upon which said surface mount component is mounted;
• means for receiving thermal signature inspection information from at least one infrared sensor;
• and
• means for processing said visual inspection information and said thermal signature inspection information resulting in the inspection of surface mount component solder joints on said surface mount components on said printed wiring board, said processing means including a means for processing said one-dimensional vector corresponding to the placement of said surface mount component on the printed wiring board using a morphological filter, said processing means also including means for fusing the data from a plurality of said infrared sensors using data level sensor fusion to obtain emissivity independent thermal signatures of solder joints.

A method for detecting solder joint defects on surface mount components on a printed wiring board, comprising the steps of:

• collecting visual inspection information and thermal signature inspection information, said visual inspection information used to develop programmed rectangular windows from which sub-images of said surface mount component are developed, said sub-images used to develop a one-dimensional vector corresponding to placement of said surface mount component on the printed wiring board, said one-dimensional vector having peaks and valleys, wherein said peaks represent solder points and said valleys represent a substrate upon which said surface mount component is mounted, said thermal signature inspection information obtained by fusing data from a plurality of infrared sensors using data level sensor fusion to obtain emissivity independent thermal signatures of solder joints;
• and
• processing said visual inspection information and said thermal signature inspection information resulting in the inspection of surface mount component solder joints on said surface mount components on said printed wiring board, said processing step including the step of processing said one-dimensional vector corresponding to the placement of said surface mount component on the printed wiring board using a morphological filter, said processing step also including the step of fusing the data from a plurality of said infrared sensors using data level sensor fusion to obtain emissivity independent thermal signatures of solder points.

A system for detecting solder joint defects on surface mount components on a printed wiring board, comprising:

• a machine vision sensor that collects visual inspection information pertaining to a surface mount component, said visual inspection information used to develop programmed rectangular windows from which sub-images of said surface mount component are developed, said sub-images used to develop a one-dimensional vector corresponding to placement of said surface mount component on the printed wiring board, said one-dimensional vector having peaks and valleys, wherein said peaks represent solder joints and said valleys represent a substrate upon which said surface mount component is mounted;
• at least one infrared sensor that collects thermal signature inspection information pertaining to a surface mount component;
• and
• logic configured to process said visual inspection information and said thermal signature inspection information in order to detect and classify said solder joint defects on said surface mount components on said printed wiring board, said processing means including means for processing said one-dimensional vector corresponding to the placement of said surface mount component on the printed wiring board using a morphological filter, said logic also configured to fuse the data from a plurality of said infrared sensors using data level sensor fusion to obtain emissivity independent thermal signatures of solder joints.