Smart Vision Unit 100: a cross-functional and stand-alone product for optical analysis of SPEA machines

In recent years, obtaining 'Smart Vision' has become paramount for companies operating in the electronics industry, particularly those producing automated test equipment (ATE). Thanks to increasingly precise and intelligent vision units, various phases can be improved during a product design. Among these phases, the characterisation process of hardware components is of fundamental importance. A more precise and accurate characterisation makes it possible to draw up datasheets that are closer to the actual behaviour of a machine and, as a consequence, allows companies to be more transparent towards customers during sales. This thesis focuses on the design and realisation of a stand-alone Smart Vision Unit that enables the integration of an intelligent eye on any machines of the company SPEA S.p.A. The aim is to optimise measurements taken on devices with Vision Units and, simultaneously, integrate Vision Units on devices that do not have similar machine functions. The principal goal is to achieve uniformity and homogeneity so the employees can work with a single object to characterise all hardware components of SPEA machines. The first part of the "Smart Vision Unit 100" project involved identifying and defining the hardware required to photograph targets from 10 µm to 2 mm. This result was obtained thanks to a high-resolution camera, telecentric optics and a system of two illuminators, one coaxial and one direct. At the same time, a software interface was implemented that allows the user to manage the SVU100 once it is plugged into the machine through the system PC. In particular, it is possible to manage the switching on and off of the illuminators, the parameters and shooting mode of the camera, and the focus management. In addition, it was necessary to define an optical test based on Image Processing on SPEA's proprietary software, capable of detecting any differences in target positioning in the order of 0.1 µm. The last phase involved defining the mechanical design of the SVU100 to achieve a structure with a shape and size compatible with SPEA machines. Moreover, it was necessary to define an optimal scalability that would allow the optical analysis of several objects simultaneously, optimising working time. Following this idea and due to the size of some of the instruments used to power and control the SVU100, it was necessary to design a container called VBOX100. This box contains two SVU100s and their corresponding power supply, the SVU100PS. During the realisation phase, various experiments were carried out, both on the bench and on the machines, to verify the performance of the individual components. These experiments led to the creation of an initial prototype, the results of which will be analysed later in this thesis and will form the basis for future works.