Printed circuit board inspection using image analysis

Computer vision has been widely used in on-line inspection of electronic co mponents. In this paper, we present a computer vision system using structur ed lighting, which provides us with an efficient solution for solder joint inspection. Our system uses a novel structured-lighting inspection technolo gy to overcome some difficulties that traditional computer vision systems o ften experience, We developed a slant map surface shape estimation techniqu e for the solder joint. From this technique, a solder joint can be determin ed to lie a good (concave), bad (convex), bridged solder joint, or solder j oint with surplus solder, or lacking solder.