Productronica 2003

Productronica 2003, November 11–14, Munich, Germany, www.productronica.de.

The "nanome|x" system combines high-end x-ray technology with an ergonomic design to target manufacturers of complex semiconductor devices and highly integrated electronic assemblies. Courtesy of Phoenix|x-ray.

Goepel Electronic (www.goepel.com) demonstrated its TESSY modular functional test system for vehicle control units and its new Opticon X-Line, which combines automated optical inspection (AOI) with x-ray inspection ....Viscom (www.viscom.de) demonstrated its lineup of AOI and x-ray inspection systems and introduced new features for its QuickScan AOI family for paste and pre-reflow inspection. The new features include illumination enhancements that can reduce typical scanning times 25% while accommodating 16x18-in. assemblies.... Phoenix|x-ray (www.phoenix-xray.com) launched its nanome|x system, which combines high-end x-ray technology with ergonomic design to target manufacturers of complex semiconductor devices.

Feinfocus (www.feinfocus.de) demonstrated its WBI-FOX x-ray inspection system, which is designed to detect wafer bump voids....Teradyne (www.teradyne.com) announced its new XFrame programming environment for its XStation automated x-ray inspection (AXI) systems; XFrame is designed to cut program-development time from days to hours....Metcal (www.metcal.com) demonstrated that optical inspection can serve BGA inspection tasks—the company's VPI-1000-XL optical inspection system can examine boards measuring up to 36x36 in., providing views beneath array packages with stand-off heights as low as 0.002 in....National Instruments (www.ni.com) demonstrated its Compact Vision System integrated into a complete inspection scheme. The company also demonstrated its new PXI-8463 single-wire controller area network (CAN) interface for automotive design and test and for machine control.

Agilent Technologies (www.agilent.com) introduced inspection as well as instrument products. First, the company added solid-shape modeling to its SP50 Series II AOI system for PCBs. In addition, Agilent demonstrated its N4010A wireless-connectivity test set for Bluetooth, and it introduced its GS-8300 fully integrated manufacturing test system for 802.11a/b/g wireless LAN products....Seica (www.seica.com) demonstrated its S40 Valid functional tester, its SR40 Trekker in-circuit tester, its S22MT bare-board tester, and the S40 Pilot LX flying prober, which had been offered through Genrad and later Teradyne. The company also demonstrated its new Firefly selective soldering system, which makes use of the motion-control technology Seica builds into its flying probers....Data I/O (www.data-io.de) introduced a self-adjusting automated matrix tray feeder that accommodates a variety of semiconductor components.

Polar Instruments (www.polarinstruments.com) announced it has signed an agreement with PWB Interconnect Solutions (www.pwbcorp.com) to distribute PWB's interconnect stress test systems throughout Europe....A pan-European test center called ETC (www.etc-europe.ch) debuted. ETC will establish test centers in Munich, Bacau (Romania), and Karmiel (Isreal) to serve telecommunications, medical, automotive, commercial, military, and other industries. Elbit Systems (www.elbit.co.il) will supply ETC with production capabilities.