Imaging Solutions Group (ISG), working with a major flat panel display manufacturer, has implemented an automated optical inspection (AOI) system using the ISG Octopus eight headed camera system.
The system makes use of eight Aptina (Micron) 5 Megapixel image heads for a total unified image size of 40 Megapixels in a 2 x 4 matrix. This aspect ratio is ideal for wide screen TV LCD Displays. The eight heads are aggregated into a single unified image and can operate at up to 12fps at full 40 Megapixel resolution for high speed AOI. Next generation system will use eight Aptina 10 Megapixel sensors for a total unified image of 80 Megapixels running at up to 15fps.
Inspection algorithms embedded inside the camera system are processed with a high performance Linux CPU and a large FPGA. External triggering and strobe functions are integrated along with external I/O for inspection outputs. Currently the setup uses a GigE network interface and (two) individual 1394b (800) interfaces for transmitting images and meta-data to host PC and storage systems.
