Products and Services

The Flying Prober is a "fixtureless" in-circuit tester designed to detect manufacturing defects on loaded SMT printed circuit boards. It uses a surface linear motor probing system for higher accuracy, repeatability, and reliability. Four heads operated by three-phase surface motors move across the board-under-test at high speed as electrical probes located on each head electrically contact and test the vias and leads of devices on the board. The systems delivers repeatability through the 6-degree vertical probe angle, which prevents probe slipping. A gray-scale vision system provides pattern matching and fiducial mark correction. It calibrates the flying prober to board fiducials, delivering the accuracy and repeatability necessary to test dense boards.

The system can probe an area of up to 500 mm x 600 mm (19.7 x 23.7 in.), enabling it to test larger boards or panels than competing test systems. It supports up to 32,000 measurements per test program--a requirement for high-node-count boards. It is designed for in-line use with automatic assembly lines. Built-in board handling allows the flying prober to be deployed in-line, simplifying tester integration. Automaic data loading and conveyer adjustment eliminate down time during line changeover.

Teradyne Inc., Assembly Test Group, 321 Harrison Ave, Boston, MA 02118. Tel: 617-4822700; Fax: 617-422-2910.

Teradyne Inc., 2625 Shadelands Dr., Walnut Creek, CA 94598. Tel: 925-932-6900 or 1-800-227-1620; Fax: 925-934-0540.