The prospect of placement machine

The future prospect of the placement machine is closely related to the electronic assembly and manufacturing technology. According to the current technological research and development, the revolutionary and subversive electronic assembly and manufacturing technologies in the future include the following types:

(1) Reverse order assembly technology

In recent years, a new electrical manufacturing process called reverse order assembly (also known as Occam process) has attracted attention. Although this technology is still in the stage of laboratory research and evaluation, the innovativeness of the process ideas and compared with conventional The superiority of craftsmanship is refreshing.

The so-called "reverse order assembly process"

It is relative to the conventional process. The conventional electronic assembly process, whether through-hole or surface mount, is to design and manufacture the printed circuit board first, and then install the components on the printed circuit board and complete the circuit connection by soldering, that is, wiring first and then installing the components. Devices; "reverse order assembly process" is to place components first and then wire them, integrating PCB manufacturing and assembly manufacturing together. Since the reverse order assembly process does not require soldering, it avoids various reliability risks and uncertainties brought about by lead-free, especially the advantages of green process and simplified manufacturing process. It is a new process generally favored by the electrical assembly industry. .

For the placement machine, the Oakham process only changes the placement process from the second step of the typical SMT process to the first step, and the adhesive chip components are changed from solder paste to other adhesives. Obviously Oakham Technology will not be the terminator of placement machine technology.

(2) Fully printed electronics technology

The all-printed electronics technology, which is based on electromechanical and nanotechnology and shows infinite charm, is an emerging subversive electronics manufacturing technology. This technology uses various electronic functional materials to directly realize the functions of electrical equipment or systems through traditional printing technology or 3D printing technology. Traditional electronic assembly processes such as component manufacturing, printed circuit boards, and assembled and welded circuit boards are all unnecessary. Therefore, the placement machine is naturally useless.

In recent years, with the emergence of bendable mobile phones, transparent mobile phones and TVs, large-size curved screen TVs, soft paper-like displays, translucent thin-film solar cells, fully printed electronic tags, Google glasses and smart watches The debut of brand-new technologies and products, such as , shows that the era of a new generation of flexible and personalized electric vehicles has arrived.

However, printed electronics technology does not have the high precision and high density of traditional silicon-based microelectronics manufacturing technology, and the performance of printable electronic materials is also worse than that of the crystal materials that traditional silicon-based microelectronics rely on. Therefore, it is currently possible Realize the replacement of some traditional manufacturing technologies in some fields such as display, thin film battery, and electric label. However, printing electronics technology has truly become the terminator of placement machine technology, and there are many uncertainties.

(3) Optics and optical path technology

The faster the chips of electronic products run, the higher the integration level, the greater the energy consumption, and the body is prone to heat. At the same time, due to the bottleneck of nanometer size, integrated electronic devices have begun to be restricted. Replace "circuit" with "optical path", replace traditional "electrical chip" with "optical chip", replace traditional "electrical component" with "optical component", and replace traditional "circuit board" with light The disruptive technology of electricity, due to its huge advantages in reducing energy consumption and increasing speed, has attracted the continuous attention and unremitting exploration of the scientific and technological community, and has achieved a series of encouraging progress in recent years.

However, compared with the electronic technology that has been developed for many years, the optical technology still has a long way to go. In addition to its position in information transmission, it has a certain position in information collection and processing, especially in the implementation of information terminals. The advantages of electrical technology are hardly regrettable, and the most practical way is "optical combination".

Therefore, the optical path technology will end the placement machine, and it will not appear in the foreseeable long period of time. Taking a step back, even if technology develops to the stage of "replacing electricity with light", the assembly of optical chips and optical components into optical circuit boards is still inseparable from "placement" and "connection". Equipment similar to placement machines is still indispensable.

(4) Other assembly technologies

With the development of information technology, other revolutionary assembly technologies are also being explored, such as electric field assembly technology based on biological technology, fluid assembly technology and assembly technology of various new concepts such as polyhedral devices. It is difficult to predict how far these technologies can go, and it is even more difficult to predict which one will replace the popular assembly technology or complement each other in the future. But it is clear that exploring the vast sea and sky where a hundred flowers can flourish, but the reality of industry is the cruel and ruthless survival of the fittest.