Non-destructive detection of discontinuity of circuit board using image processing techniques
N Karimian and S Ghafouri Varzaneh
The inspection process of printed circuit board (PCBs) has been a vital process in the electronic manufacturing industry in order to guarantee product reliability and quality, manufacturing cost and also an increase in the production. One of the main challenges for researches who largely work with PCBs is the correct functionality of the board. As many PCBs face discontinuity within their component connections, solders connection as a result of heat, etc. it is important to ensure the correct and efficient detection of any discontinuity with such boards. Currently, one of the main methods of detecting such discontinuity is visual inspection by the technicians, which can be time consuming and the accuracy cannot be totally guaranteed. One of the main discontinuities within a board can be named as the occurrence of a crack, which can occur due to incorrect soldering or even incorrect component placement. The current research proposes a non-destructive detection method for such breakouts or defects within a board without any need of schematic plan and with the help of an image processing technique. This is achieved by taking a simple but high-resolution greyscale image by shining a light onto the surface of the PCB and then producing an image. This is followed by analysis of the image and recognising any present defect that is typically done by human operator. This method, in comparison to the conventional and current methods, can be faster and more accurate.
