A three-dimensional inspection system is used to obtain three-dimensional information pertaining to an article having specular surfaces, such as a BGA device, by projecting a pattern of light onto the article at an oblique angle with respect to the article. The system includes patterned light projector having an optical axis disposed at an oblique angle with respect to the plane of the article being inspected and an image detector or camera disposed generally above the article being inspected to detect the image of the pattern projected on the article. The patterned light projector includes an extended light source that directs light along the optical axis and a light patterning member disposed at an angle with respect to the optical axis such that the light pattern is in focus in an image plane parallel to the plane of the article, thereby satisfying the Scheimpflug condition. The light pattern preferably includes lines of light projected onto the article with a substantially equal thickness and spacing. The spacing of the lines is preferably greater than a spacing or pitch of the specular elements, such as the solder balls on a BGA device. An image processor is coupled to the image detector to receive the image, locate the lines, and measure the lateral shift of the lines. Height information is determined from the lateral shift and projection angle using triangulation.
An apparatus for mounting semiconductor chips onto a substrate contains a measuring station for the contactless measurement of the height of the surface of the mounted semiconductor chip facing away from the substrate at a minimum of three locations. From this, at least one parameter is calculated that characterises the adhesive layer formed between the semiconductor chip and the substrate. A difference of the measured value to a set value is used to adjust the mounting process. An apparatus for wiring semiconductor chips also contains such a measuring station in order to determine the individual height of each connection point on the semiconductor chip. This information is used in order to lower the capillary to the respective connection point on the semiconductor chip in the shortest possible time.
A method and arrangement are disclosed for increasing the depth contrast in microscope imaging. The method and implementation described can be designated as structured illumination for generating quasi-confocal optical sections. In implementing the method, a grating structure located in the field diaphragm plane of a microscope, the object plane and the TV intermediate image plane of a microscope are arranged confocally. The term "confocally" refers to the fact that the grating, object and the intermediate image plane are positioned on optically conjugate planes. By this arrangement, the grating structure is projected in the object plane of the microscope and the object which is structured in this way is imaged in the TV intermediate image plane of the microscope by the optical system following it. Optical sections are generated by calculating the modulation depth of the structured object. Three-dimensional acquisition of the object is achieved in that the object is imaged in a plurality of focus planes at right angles to the direction of observation and is detected using an array detector (e.g., CCD camera). The method and implementation of structured illumination described herein can primarily be used in reflection microscopy and fluorescence microscopy. In principle, the method can be applied for all linear interactions between light and matter. The use of the method is likewise not limited to the field of microscopy.
A three-dimensional inspection system and method is used to obtain information about three-dimensional articles with specular surfaces having a shape and positive or negative height by projecting a pattern of light onto the articles at an oblique angle. The system includes a patterned light projector with optical axis disposed at an oblique angle with respect to the plane of the article being inspected, an extended light source, and an image detector disposed above the article to detect the image of the pattern on the article. The light pattern includes lines with a substantially equal thickness and spacing. The spacing of the lines is greater than a spacing or pitch of the specular elements. An image processor, coupled to the image detector, receives the image, locates the lines, and measures the lateral shift of the lines. Height information is determined from the lateral shift and projection angle using triangulation.
A system and method are provided which enable parallel image reconstruction of multiple depth layers of an object. More specifically, a system and method are provided in which pixels are captured for an object and such pixels are processed to reconstruct voxels for multiple depth layers of the object in parallel. In one embodiment, a reconstruction processor comprises at least one input port for receiving pixels of a radiographic image of an object, and at least one input port for receiving position data associated with a received pixel. It further comprises processing logic operable to determine, based at least in part on the received position data of a received pixel, a first and second voxel of a first and second layer of the object, respectively, to which the received pixel contributes, and further operable to apply the contribution of the received pixel to the first and second voxels in parallel.
The present invention is directed to a method of inspecting a curved object comprising the steps of acquiring inspection image data of a curved object using a detector, generating adjusted image data by adjusting the inspection image data, and comparing the adjusted image data with digitally generated image data of a predetermined image. In one embodiment, golf balls are inspected using a line scan camera and a line of coplanar and parallel, diffuse light that uniformly illuminates the camera's scan line. A method of digitally filtering brightness in a digital image is also disclosed.
