Remote Inspection Platform for Circuit boards The intention is that circuit boards can be built and inspected in the facility where they are made but the inspection is done from another location, potentially across the country. Some or all control of the inspection should be done through a computer or even a phone. We need a table that a circuit board could be placed and a group of cameras could be arranged and attached above so that the circuit board could be inspected from different angles by someone observing through the cameras.

Rough idea The cameras can be mobile or the bed holding the circuit board could move. Which ever moves, their motion needs to be smooth enough that they don’t vibrate the cameras or the circuit board. Potentially this could be done either by moving the camera(s) or by moving the circuit board or a combination of camera and table having motion. Circuit boards should be held firmly so it doesn’t shift when being inspected. The circuit boards will be of various sizes but are not expected to be more than 12” x 12”. The drawing is intended to give you an idea of what we are looking for but you don’t have to restrict your ideas to that set up. If the circuit board holder moved, it might look similar to the bed of a milling machine. What kind of camera system would you suggest? Is it possible to flip the board over remotely or does it need to be done by a person on site?

This is a very simplistic method of inspecting but it requires someone to move the circuit board around while they use a digital microscope to image the board.

This looks like a sturdy structure to hold stationary cameras with a conveyor belt of parts running below it. Something like this might hold the cameras and lights but we would need something to move the circuit boards.

This system has some kind of controlled bed that allows carful examination of the board. I can’t tell if there are stepper motors that move the bed but it doesn’t appear to have any tilt capability would could be helpful. This also seems to require someone be there to view the board.

This one appears to have only one direction of travel but it seems to have a variable focus range. The motion of the camera would need to be very smooth in its travel which might be difficult on a long lever arm.

These are what is used for machining parts. Could they be used for moving the circuit boards? How would you keep the boards from moving around?