Automatic Optical Inspection aided Augmented Reality-based PCBA Inspection: A Development

Augmented Reality-based (AR-based) inspection has been demonstrated to be up to 2-3 times more efficient than the traditional manual and computer-based inspection. Previous studies have focused on standalone inspection systems often relying on external markers for registration. In this study, we present a novel optical see-through head-mounted display (OST-HMD) AR-based inspection guidance and monitoring system on printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs). A resizable ideal reference image is contextually registered on-demand for comparison with an automatic optical inspection (AOI) localized defect on the board by a remote user wirelessly networked without utilizing external markers. Results of this study demonstrate our developed system's registration precision to be invariant to planar pose (position and orientation) of the PCB board and robust to board size.