An experimental printed circuit board drilling system automated by pattern recognition

The two-dimensional image processing necessary for closed-loop control of automated printed circuit board drilling and a mechanical prototype capable of drilling simulated printed-circuit boards are described. A single closed-loop correction of position permits correction of errors introduced by vidicon camera positional nonlinearity, noise, irregular lighting, inaccuracy of transformational constants, and mechanical slippage. These errors are corrected to an acceptable degree and in a short enough time that automatic drilling may present a challenge to manual drilling labor costs.