Automatic extraction of component window for auto-teaching of PCB assembly inspection machines

We propose an image segmentation method for auto-teaching system of PCB (Printed Circuit Board) assembly inspection machines. The inspection machine acquires images of all components in PCB, and then compares each image with its standard image to find the assembly errors such as misalignment, inverse polarity, and tombstone. The component window that is the area of component to be acquired by camera, is one of the teaching data for operating the inspection machines. To reduce the teaching time of the machine, we newly develop the image processing method to extract the component window automatically from the image of PCB. The proposed method segments the component window by excluding the soldering parts as well as board background. We binarize the input image by use of HSI color model because it is difficult to discriminate the RGB colors between components and backgrounds. The linear combination of the binarized images then enhances the component window from the background. By use of the horizontal and vertical projection of histogram, we finally obtain the component widow. The experimental results are presented to verify the usefulness of the proposed method. © ICROS 2010.