Modelling and optimizing a system for testing electronic circuit boards

Stephen Y Chen,Mario Leonardo Morfin Ramírez,Odile Marcotte,Mary Pugh

doi:10.1186/s40929-017-0012-0

Abstract

In this article we consider a difficult combinatorial optimization problem arising from the operation of a system for testing electronic circuit boards (ECB). This problem was proposed to us by a company that makes a system for testing ECBs and is looking for an efficient way of planning the tests on any given ECB. Because of its difficulty, we first split the problem into a covering subproblem and a sequencing subproblem. We also give a global formulation of the test planning problem. Then we present and discuss results pertaining to the covering and sequencing subproblems. These results demonstrate that their solution yields testing plans that are much better than those currently used by the company. Finally we conclude our article by outlining avenues for future research.

Highlights

In this article we study the operations of a system for testing Electronic Circuit Boards (ECBs) that uses flying probes
Results and discussion we present results pertaining to the solution of the covering and sequencing subproblems
In this article we have shown that the use of modelling and mathematical programming yields solutions of the test planning problem that are much better than those currently used by the Company

Summary

Introduction

In this article we study the operations of a system for testing Electronic Circuit Boards (ECBs) that uses flying probes. Our study was carried out in cooperation with a company that will be referred to as the Company in what follows. We first describe the broad outlines of this system (called the FP system); further details will be given . The FP system includes eight shuttles: four shuttles that are above the board and four shuttles that are below the board. The board being tested contains nets, each of which can be viewed as a wire with a finite number of points of interest (or points). For the purposes of this study, a net is a set of points whose coordinates are known. Note that the nets are pairwise disjoint, i.e., no point belongs to more than one net

Methods

Results

Conclusion