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Soft Landing Reduces Nail Test Footprint of Flying Probers
December 13, 2005 |Estimated reading time: 1 minute
STUTENSEE-BLANKENLOCH, Germany — With continued miniaturization of components in automotive, medical and military applications, manufacturers often are concerned with over test coverage on complex and high-density boards, as well as problems with unwanted damage using conventional probe techniques. To combat this, Digitaltest introduced Soft Landing technology on its Condor flying probe test platform.
Limited space for test points and component placement on both sides of the board has increased the use of flying probe systems. Despite their flexibility, however, these systems often face challenges. Adapting smaller components creates smaller targets for test nails. Component leads also tend to become thinner and more delicate — risking damage from aggressive speeds and forces from test machines.
Soft Landing technology allows the test nail to travel toward the component or pad at normal speed until about 1 to 2 mm above its target landing position. The speed of the nail is reduced to soften board impact, protecting delicate components from damage and reducing the footprint in which the nail touches the board. Adding this soft landing is said to reduce the nail footprint by a third.
This technology affects the Z-axis of travel only, meaning that existing test programs can be updated on the MTS systems to take advantage of this method with little additional programming. "Although it may sound like a simple idea, the Soft Landing technique will have a sizeable impact of the effectiveness of flying probe systems in electronics production, especially in applications for highly complex boards," states Hans Baka, managing director of Digitaltest.