OF SURFACE MOUNT TECHNOLOGY

THE PROBLEM PROPOSED IN THIS PROPOSAL IS THE WIDENING GAP BETWEEN EMERGING ELECTRONICS R&D AND AMERICAN MANUFACTURES ABILITY TO EFFECTIVELY PRODUCE THE NEXT GENERATION OF PRINTED WIRING ASSEMBLIES. AN OPPORTUNITY CURRENTLY EXISTS TO INITIATE LONG TERM SOLUTIONS FOR IMPROVING OUR MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES BY USING THE LATEST GENERATION OF COMPUTERS, VISION SYSTEMS, AND MECHANICS TO PROVIDE AN INTELLIGENT MANUFACTURING MACHINE (IMM) FOR THE PRODUCTION OF PRINTED WIRING ASSEMBLIES (PWA'S) BASED ON SURFACE MOUNT TECHNOLOGIES (SMT). OUR OBJECTIVES ARE TO PRODUCE A COST EFFECTIVE IMM TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS (FEM) IN THE SMT AREA. SOME OF THE INNOVATIONS INCORPORATED IN THE IMM WOULD BE THE APPLICATION OF A FRESH APPROACH TO ROBOTICS AND STATE OF THE ART (SOA) VISION SYSTEMS. EACH OF THESE AREAS COUPLED WITH THE LATEST GENERATION OF COMPUTERS AND SENSORS WILL MAKE A MORE POWERFULL SYSTEMS IMPLEMENTATION POSSIBLE. THE PHASE I EXPLORATORY DEVELOPMENT WILL FOCUS ON THOSE ISSUES WHICH CLOSELY EFFECT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SMT. THEY ARE: (A) THE SENSORY AND CONTROL ELEMENTS REQUIRED TO EXECUTE HIGH PRECISION ASSEMBLY (B) THE PWA REQUIREMENTS IN 3-5 YEARS.