Jan 16, 2013 
KIC today announced that it will showcase the ProBot, a flexible, affordable and easy-to-use automatic profiling system in booth #1314 at the upcoming IPC APEX Expo, scheduled to take place February 19-21, 2013 at the San Diego Convention Center in California.
The ProBot automatically verifies whether each PCB is processed to specification in the reflow oven. The suspect PCBs are identified and may be isolated. One method to enhance the use of an X-ray system is to have these boards then be sent off to batch X-ray. Since the typical batch X-ray machine only inspects less than one percent of all assembled PCBs, the ProBot allows for a more effective sampling.
The ProBot also complements AOI inspection as these machines cannot see the solder joints hidden below BGA and PoP component bodies. The ProBot’s software will store the relevant solder paste and component temperature tolerances and check that each PCB was processed in accordance with these process windows.
Neither X-ray nor AOI inspection can see the molecular structure of a solder joint, and hence, they cannot judge the soldering quality. A more complete quality inspection can be achieved when combined with the KIC ProBot, which will verify that the solder joints have been processed within the tolerances of both the component as well as solder paste specs.
The ProBot is designed to fit virtually any reflow oven on the market. The product is highly modular, allowing each user to specify the desired features. There is no longer a need to pay for unnecessary or unwanted capabilities.
For more information, contact Marybeth Allen at mballen@kicmail.com or visit www.kicthermal.com.
Based in San Diego, KIC is the industry leader in automated thermal process tools and systems for reflow, wave, cure and semiconductor thermal processes. The company pioneered the development of oven profilers and process optimization tools, and then worked to create the next generation of thermal systems to help manufacturers improve the thermal process quality while reducing cost.
KIC products include the KIC X5, KICstart2, ProBot and the KIC RPI. With the introduction of cutting edge tools, the company continues to stay on the leading edge of process optimization and automatic thermal process systems, and has won numerous industry awards.
