Imaging Solutions Group has worked with a major Flat Panel Display manufacturer to implement an Automated Optical Inspection System (AOI) using the new ISG Octopus 8 headed camera system.

The system makes use of 8 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 8 heads are aggregated into a single unified image and can operate at up to 12 frames per second at full 40Mp resolution for high speed AOI. Next generation system will use 8 Aptina 10Mp sensors for a total unified image of 80Mp running at up to 15 fps.

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 (2) individual 1394b (800) interfaces for transmitting images and meta-data to host PC and storage systems.

Significant cost savings and increased AOI inspection times increase Flat Panel Inspection throughput and cost efficiency. "This custom camera platform is much less expensive than competing solutions while increasing the resolution and processing time," says Kerry Van Iseghem, Founder at Imaging Solutions Group.