Lunaris: The better way to produce printed circuit boards
In this talk, Joost Sannen (embedded software architect at Sioux) will give an overview of the calibration algorithms that are critical for the operation of the Lunaris printer, which introduces a novel approach to printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing by using inkjet technology for the imaging of this circuitry.
This new method requires very accurate (~10um) placement of millions of ink drops. Because the machine operates in a highly cost driven market, most of its components have relatively high mechanical tolerances. This is compensated for by automated calibrations. After placement, a Lunaris machine can calibrate itself to the required accuracy without external measurements.
The entire calibration process requires more than 15 steps, which are employing computer vision, solving thousands of equations and statistical analysis. An interesting use of mathematics and information technology in a far-from-trivial application.