APPLICATION OF ROBOTICS TECHNOLOGY TO REPAIR OF ELECTRONIC PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARDS

THIS SUBMITTAL EXTENDS APPLICATION OF ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATED FACTORY TECHNIQUES TO THE REPAIR OF ELECTRONIC PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARDS. INCREASES IN PERFORMANCE, QUALITY ASSURANCE, AND RELIABILITY UNFORTUNATELY HAVE NOT RESULTED IN FAILURE FREE SYSTEMS. IN ORDER TO FUNCTION THE NAVY MUST SUPPORT AN EXTENSIVE AND EXPENSIVE MAINTENANCE PROGRAM. MANY OF THE REPAIR PROCESSES ARE VERY LABOR INTENSIVE, REQUIRE HIGHLY SPECIALIZED TRAINING AND ARE SOMETIMES VERY HAZARDOUS. AN EXAMPLE OF THIS IS THE REMOVAL OF CONFRMAL COATINGS FROM ELECTRONICPRINTED CIRCUIT CARDS. IN THIS SBIR SUBMITTAL MAINTENANCE REQUIREMENTS INC. (MRI) PROPOSES TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF APPLYING ROBOTICS TECHNOLOGY TO THE PROBLEM OF CONFORMAL COATING REMOVAL AND TO STRUCTURE A PILOT PROGRAM TO DEMONSTRATE THE CONCEPT. THE WORK WILL BE DONE BY THE SAME KEY INDIVIDUALS WHO DEVELOPED AND IMPLEMENTED THE NAVY-WIDE MINIATURE MICROMINIATURE (2M) REPAIR PROGRAM.