Automation and Smart Factory go hand in hand, and visitors to Seica’s booth 4A-120 at SMT in Nuremberg will be able to see leading-edge solutions that check all of the boxes of both concepts.
Seica’s COMPACT line of test systems allows the user to choose the most suitable configuration for today’s needs, while ensuring scalability for future requirements. The COMPACT NEXT systems provide the full range of test requirements: in-circuit, pre-functional, functional, combinational, as well as the capability to perform other tasks such as onboard programming (OBP), and visitors at SMT will be able to view two solutions aimed to satisfy high throughput testing.
RT Robotic process automation (RPA) is a growing trend in electronic board manufacturing, and the latest board test solution in Seica’s Next Series, the Compact RT, is designed to provide maximum productivity in any RPA scenario. Its dual- fixture rotary table ensures continuous, optimized test throughput, and its minimal, modular design provides maximum versatility for deployment in different automated handling scenarios (robot/cobot). Designed for configurability, this solution has the modularity needed to provide tailor-made test performance for the specific requirement with all of the advantages of a standard platform.
Automated lines are the norm in today’s high throughput manufacturing environments, and the COMPACT SL NEXT> is designed to be easy to integrate into any line configuration. Completely automated with an advanced conveyor system and VIVA software management, the solution has the speed and flexibility to meet todays’ demanding throughput targets, and is fully compatible with existing communication protocols (SMEMA, CFX,) The new, integrated ATE BOOSTER module, the latest addition to the vast suite of performances available, maximizes LED test capability and OBP performances, while reducing costs by means of the innovative optimization of the hardware resources required.
The need for test solutions for LEDs has been growing exponentially over the past few years, and Seica will be displaying the LedMeter, a Smart Tool developed for this specific test requirement. This cost-effective Smart Tool measures RGB, Hue, XY chromaticity, color saturation and relative intensity and wave length in nano meters. LedMeter has a modular architecture for easy scalability, based on i2C communication: each control module can manage up to 64 sensors and is available in a TTL <> USB and RS232 version. The software included in the tool enables the acquisition of the selected channels, which are then shown on the screen of the host PC in a clear, easy to understand format.
Also on show in Seica’s booth, the PILOT VX, the new gold standard in flying probe test technology. Providing unrivaled results in terms of test performance and speed, its state-of-the-art mechanical architecture and motion controllers enable a reduction of up to 50% in test time, 12 multi-function test heads provide the capability for double-side probing of up to 60 points simultaneously and technologically advanced measurement hardware and a new microwave-based measurement technique make the Pilot VX the most cutting-edge solution on the market. Optimized VIVA software management enables the parallelization of different types of tests, and smart analysis capabilities together, with algorithms based on the principles of artificial intelligence can automatically optimize the test flow in run-time, while maintaining test coverage targets.
The FlyPod option extends testing capability even more by specializing a single mobile probe to carry up to 14 channels, enabling access to boundary scan circuits and adding onboard programming capability without any external fixed cables. The Pilot VX platform also includes options for testing flex circuits and the electrical and optical test of LEDs. In addition, the Pilot VX can generate pressure/force topology maps of the device under test using the innovative FlyStrain™ option. Once a necessity for traditional fixture-based solutions, Seica has migrated these new tools to the flying prober where testing of ceramics, wafers and avionics and satellite boards requires delicate probing and traceability.
The Pilot VX is a tremendously powerful asset, deployable in every phase of today’s accelerated product lifecycle, from concept, to design, to prototype, to production: the intrinsic capability of the Pilot VX flying prober to give immediate, extremely precise access to all of the points on a first prototype board, coupled with an extensive suite of measurement hardware and software tools, including the PR boost feature with the capability to power the board (up to 2A per probe) with all of the 8 standard electrical probes enables the test and validation of prototypes quickly and with minimum effort without requiring deep specific training on the tester or generating a test programs. Once the design has been validated, the automatic generation of a complete test program starting from the board CAD data is a fast, streamlined process using SEICA’s VIVA software platform, minimizing the setup time for pre-series and/or full production test. In fact, the dramatic improvements in speed and performance achieved in the Pilot VX platform, has now made flying probe test a key solution in many high-volume production environments with a high level of automation.
Innovating solutions is a core value at Seica, a mission that has been extended to include other processes in electronics manufacturing.
The Firefly Next> on display at SMT is a technologically advanced, fully automated selective soldering solution. With its perfect integration, on a single axis, of a high-efficiency LASER source, fully-programmable donut spot, vision system and temperature sensor, the Firefly redefines the levels of performance achievable in the selective soldering process in terms of flexibility, throughput, reliability, applicability and process traceability, and visitors will have the opportunity to see live demos of the soldering process directly at the booth
All of the solutions on display include Seica’s VIVA NEXT software platform, which is able to provide intelligent integration with all aspects of the customer’s manufacturing processes – data collection, traceability, interaction with MES, repair operations – and all of the Next> series systems have Canavisia’s Industrial Monitoring solution on board, for remote monitoring of current and voltage consumption, mains supply, temperature, light indicators and other parameters useful to indicate correct operation, provide information for predictive maintenance and, in general, to render the systems compatible with today’s Industry 5.0 standards.
