Optical inspection system

An automated optical inspection device suitable for inspection of an article, comprising:

• at least one detector providing an image output of at least a portion of an article having at least three different regions, each of which regions is distinguished at least by an optical characteristic detectable by said detector;
• and
• processing circuitry receiving said image output and providing edge detection to sub-pixel accuracy operative to distinguish borders of at least two of said at least three different regions, wherein said processing circuitry receives said image output and provides edge detection to sub-pixel accuracy operative to distinguish borders of said at least three different regions.

An automated optical inspection device suitable for inspection of an article, comprising:

• at least one detector providing a polychromatic image output of at least a portion of an article, said article comprising an electrical circuit formed on a printed circuit board;
• and
• processing circuitry receiving said polychromatic image output and providing a color image representing said article, the color image comprising a map which indicates borders between different regions of an article and identifies materials in each of said different regions having a common border said different regions including uncoated metal conductors, coated metal conductors, uncoated substrate, and coated substrate.

An automated optical inspection device suitable for inspection of a patterned article, comprising:

• at least one detector providing an image output of at least a portion of a patterned article comprising a plurality of materials having detectable borders between the plurality of materials said plurality of materials comprising at least three materials;
• and
• processing circuitry receiving said image output and providing an inspection functionality comprising pattern analysis of image data relating to the borders to provide an indication of the presence of nicks and protrusions along said borders.

An automated optical inspection device suitable for inspection of an electrical circuit, comprising:

• at least one detector providing an image output of at least a portion of an electrical circuit comprising multiple materials;
• and
• processing circuitry receiving said image output and providing an output indication of the presence of at least one predetermined material, said processing circuitry providing an output indication of the presence of at least two materials out of a group of at least three predetermined materials.

An automated optical inspection device suitable for inspection of a patterned article, comprising:

• at least one detector providing an image output of at least a portion of a patterned article through a translucent overlay at least partially covering the patterned article;
• and
• processing circuitry receiving said image output and providing an output indication which is independent of the translucent overlay, said processing circuitry being operative to provide an indication of parts of the pattern covered by the translucent overlay and parts of the pattern not covered by the translucent overlay.

Apparatus for automatically optically inspecting color images of objects, comprising:

• a sensor operative to acquire polychromatic images of an object;
• an image processor operative to process the polychromatic images and output a report indicating candidate defects and features chosen from among a predetermined set of features, and to provide an image of a region surrounding each said candidate defect and feature, said image processor including a binary image processor operative to process binary images generated from the polychromatic image, and a color image processor operative to process the polychromatic images.

An automated optical inspection device suitable for inspection of an article and comprising:

• at least one detector providing an image output of at least a portion of an article having at least three different regions, each of which regions is distinguished at least by an optical characteristic detectable by said detector;
• and
• processing circuitry receiving said image output and providing edge detection to sub-pixel accuracy operative to distinguish borders of at least two of said at least three different regions, wherein said processing circuitry provides mapping based at least partially on said image output which identifies materials in each of said different regions having a common border.

An automated optical inspection device suitable for inspection of an article comprising:

• at least one detector providing a polychromatic image output of at least a portion of an article;
• and
• processing circuitry receiving said polychromatic image output and providing a color image representing said article, the color image comprising a map which indicates borders between different regions of an article and identifies materials in each of said different regions having a common border, said different materials including different metals.