Product: An Automated 3D Shaping Solution for Printed Circuit Boards Developers: PCB Division Product Development Team & Additive Manufacturing Group (AMG) – R&D Company: Orbotech Start of Development: 2007
Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) are electronic circuits which serve as electrical interconnections between a device’s different electronic elements and enable the routing of signals and power.
Technological advances necessitate high-density circuit boards which need to be manufactured with unique and high-quality methods. These new, advanced manufacturing methods enable more functionality in a smaller space which, in turn, enables the newest generation of smartphones.
During production, flaws occur in some of the circuits. The high cost of the components means that manufacturers prefer to repair the defective boards rather than simply discard them. In the past, tens of thousands of workers were employed to manually repair the printed circuit boards. During 2005, developers at Orbotech recognized the need to develop automated technologies that could correct what the human eye could no longer see, and began searching for a solution.
Orbotech is an Israeli hi-tech company that was founded in 1981 and has since been developing enabling technologies used to manufacture the world’s most sophisticated consumer and industrial electronics. In 2007, the company’s technology teams began to work on developing a completely new product that would change the face of the entire industry. The road to success was not easy and the team initially developed various technologies that were not robust enough to become part of a high volume manufacturing process. Finally, in 2016, Orbotech launched Precise™ 800 – a revolutionary product that automatically identifies defects such as short circuits and disconnections in expensive advanced PCBs that cannot be detected manually.
The automated optical shaping technology not only identifies the defects but succeeds in shaping excess and missing copper through digital additive manufacturing. This represents a complete breakthrough in electronics micro-manufacturing that enables manufacturers to virtually eliminate PCB scrap.
Orbotech was the first company in the world to succeed in adding copper on both inner and outer layers at such an advanced stage of circuit board production.
This innovative solution can redesign thousands of printed circuit boards a day, thereby saving the manufacturer significant financial losses and manpower. It is no wonder that nearly all the world’s leading printed circuit board manufacturers purchased a ‘Precise’ machine within a year of its launch.
Orbotech is proud that the Precise 800 and automated optical shaping technology has contributed to the advancement of the electronics industry and enables the realization of designers’ dreams. Today, it is used in the production of advanced electronics, including new generation smartphones.
