I am currently investigating various types of non-contact process monitoring for 
solder joint inspection. This includes Xray laminography, transmission Xray, and 
various types of automated optical inspection.

If you have purchased or investigated any of this type of equipment, I am 
interested in any words of wisdom,comments, experiences, etc. that you're 
willing to share with me.  More specifically, my questions are:

1. Various AOI vendors use different light sources, from programmable banks of 
LED's(Control Automation, Theta Group), to 3-color incandescent lighting 
(Omron), to infrared (MVP). Any ideas on pro's and con's of these different 
schemes?

2. In the real world, how good are these machines at recognizing good vs. bad 
solder joints? (I already know what the vendors say!) 

3. How much programming support is needed? (expressed in # of engineers, # of 
techs, etc.)

4. If you have purchased any of this equipment, how did you cost-justify it? Are 
you using it in-line or off-line? At what point in your process? Has it proven 
cost-effective?

5. If we're only doing a very small amount of BGA, is the extra $$$ to go with 
Xray laminography really worth it?

6. Is anyone using automated inspection with human (rather than machine) defect 
recognition?

Thanks!




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