M_

Autoprobing on the L200

Functional Tester

Tim Moore and Stephen Garner

Digital Equipment Corp.

uring diagnostic verification of a module, as many as

4 D I2000 l
l may need to be probed. However, doing
I lpoints
this manually was time-consuming, prone to error and fa-
tiguing to the operator. The advent of surface-mount-de-
vice technology made physical accessibility to high pin
I*~~S ~;count,
l 8 leaded chip carriers extremely limited, and hand-
I r l
held probing from the component side ceased to be cost ef-
fective because it adversely affected tester throughput.
l4O~t~.~ l4 l This article describes an automatic process used at Digital
l
I lEquipment
l Corp. for X-Y autoprobing on Teradyne's L200
functional tester, and how it is applied in a production en-
vironment. Reduced tester time and increased throughput
i
i lcan
i be achieved by using the X-Y autoprober to assist the
L200 functional tester in automating diagnostic probing.
The X-Y autoprober has reduced from three to one the
number of test systems that would be needed in order to
meet projected manufacturing goals. There are an increas-
ing number of X-Y autoprobing systems used in DEC man-
ufacturing plants. They have successfully demonstrated
that the amount of time to probe manually can be reduced
by a factor of ten.
Both the hardware and software attributes of the X-Y
autoprober system will be discussed in this article. The auto-
prober hardware, implemented on the L200 functional
tester, was designed to address the following needs:
44 0740-7475/85/1200-0044$01.00 GD 1985 IEEE IEEE DESIGN & TEST
 * Automatic X-Y-Z single-point

probing.
* Zero insertion force (ZIF) edge

connector access to a vertically

mounted printed wiring board (PWB).
* Probe access to the solder side of

the PWB only, so that the X-Y-Z sin-

gle-point probe and Limited Bed of
Nails (LBON) are on same side of the
board.
* Forced-air cooling on the compo-

nent side of the PWB, to dissipate

heat.
The autoprober software, imple-
mented on a PDP-11/44-based L200
functional tester, was designed to
include:
* The CAD data providing physical
coordinates for nodal access to the
module under test.
* The integration of the autoprober

software into the module application.

* The implementation of safety
features. Figure 1. L200 test fLxture and X-Y autoprober.
The autoprober software imple-
mentation was designed for both the control, whether the autoprober is taining a spring probe have their X-Y
X-Y autoprober's "hard automation" used either as an engineering tool or as coordinates masked; the X-Y auto-
and the Intelledex Robot prober's a production tool. prober will not move to that point . The
"flexible automation," unless specifi- The software also had to take into controller hardware handles commu-
cally mentioned, since the software account the hardware design con- nication with the L200 by positioning
process is identical for both probing straints of a closed loop system, re- the axis on the prober, and controlling
implementations. sponding to feedback from the mod- fixture functions.
ule, the test fixture, and the controller.
Autoprober design goals And most importantly, the software Board test procedure. During pro-
had to be non-application specific. duction, a board test is performed
The X-Y autoprober was designed through the following operations:
to: Hardware system Step 1. The PWB is inserted verti-
(1) Eliminate the need for the hand- application cally into the ZIF edge connector,
held probe by automatically control- which is located at the test fixture base.
ling prober placement, thus increasing The hardware for the X-Y auto-
tester throughput. prober comprises: The L200 test fix- Step 2. The L200 tester initates a test
controller at
(2) Provide a L200 tester-to-con- ture, Limited Bed Of Nails (LBON), program, and signals the
troller communications protocol that the X-Y autoprober, and the controller. the same time.
includes CAD location data for probe The X-Y autoprober is designed to
positioning. mount directly to the vertically ori-
(3) Provide a base capability at the ented L200 test fixture, as shown in Glossary
L200 functional tester level to facili- Figure 1. If desired, an LBON (used to Module: A populated printed wir-
tate future enhancements of bar-coded gain internal visibility to bus data lines ing board.
inputs, automated board handling, or clocking pins) can be used between Nodal verification: The probing
and two-sided, surface-mount-device the vertical test fixture and the X-Y of all nodes on a PWB to verify
probing. autoprober since both the autoprober that they match expected simu-
To be a viable tool in a manufactur- and the test fixture are designed to be lation results.
ing environment, it was necessary for mounted on the same side-the solder LBON: Spring-loaded nails
the autoprober software to successful- side-of the PWB. which make physical contact
ly interface with both the tester and the The X-Y autoprober probes through with selected internal nodes of
autoprober. The software had to pro- the LBON to contact the solder side of the PWB.
vide real-time automation and safety the PWB. Any LBON test points con-
December 1985 45
 dc closed-loop motors to move to the
X-Y location of a device on the PWB.
Once the X-Y intersection point has
been reached, the Z-axis is activated.
The Z-axis probe is pneumatically op-
erated, traveling forward until it
makes positive mechanical contact
with the PWB component point, as
shown in Figure 2.
Step 7. The controller then trans-
mits a VERIFY command back to the
L200 test fixture. When the test on the
node is finished, the controller directs
the probe point to retract. The next
probe point is automatically loaded to
the controller and the testing sequence
begins again, continuing until the last
point is reached.

Autoprober software
overview
The autoprober software is built
around the PDP-1 1/44 RSXI M op-
Figure 2. L200 tester making contact with the PWB component point. erating system in the L200 tester, as
Figure 3 illustrates. The integration of
Step 3. The controller directs the der side of the PWB via pneumatic the autoprober software into the test
ZIF edge connector's pneumatic cylin- cylinders. system contributes to the overall suc-
ders to close as power is applied. cess and speed of the autoprober sys-
Step 6. When probing is required, tem. Although simply integrated into
Step 4. The cooling fans are started. the controller directs the L200 tester to the module test program, the software
Step 5. The controller directs the begin an edge-driven, functional test. that controls the autoprober is trans-
LBON to make contact with the sol- The controller would then instruct the parent to the user during all probing
activities.
The module application, after being
integrated with the autoprober soft-
ware, can be used in any mode ofmod-
ule test, with or without an autoprob-
er. The software that controls the
autoprober has two main areas of func-
tionality: the X-Y application and the
job synchronization control task.
The X-Y application is coupled to
the module test program, providing
the necessary communication com-
mand structure and process flow. It
provides the autoprober with real-time
control of the automation activities,
communicating with the autoprober
through the job synchronization con-
trol task. The X-Y application is writ-
ten in the L200 test language and
becomes a part of the module test pro-
gram only when automated probing is
Figure 3. The autoprober software process. required.

46 IEEE DESIGN &TEST

 The job synchronization control
task's function is to: (a) Receive com-
mands from the X-Y application; (b)
regulate communication with the con-
troller; (c) send replies to the X-Y
application.
These two programs work together
to provide the necessary link for
diagnostic access by the autoprober to
the module under test, or MUT.

Hardware description
The four basic components of the
hardware system are all integrated into Figure 4. The CAD database process flow.
the L200 functional test system. As
stated, they are the test fixture, the
LBON, the X-Y autoprober, and the probes to make contact with the PWB repeatability of ±0.0005 of an inch per
controller. via the controller. move. In the manual mode, the con-
troller is used to align the probe tip
Test fixture. The test fixture com- X-Y autoprober. The X-Y auto- with the two tooling holes that locate
prises a standard L200 frame and pad- prober is an electro-mechanical, dc the PWB to the LBON prior to testing
dle cards. The PWB guide and holder servo-driven, X-Y lead screw system. a board. All the auxiliary functions are
is mounted vertically to the fixture It weighs approximately 25 pounds programmable, including machine pa-
with a pneumatically activated ZIF and is designed to mount directly to the rameters (gain and toggle speed, for
edge connector centered at the base. L200 test fixture frame. The L200 example), encoder constants, servo
This configuration allows for the hand probe is fixed to a holster. An setup, and test driver.
shortest wire length, maximum cool- electrical connection is made between The fixture control functions for the
ing, and complete access to all sides of the L200 autoprober tip and a spring ZIF contacts, LBON and safety shut-
the PWB. The vertical PWB holder probe. The Z-axis activation of the off are also accomplished by the con-
mount contains four registration pins spring probe is accomplished via troller. The controller is mounted into
which are located on the solder side of pneumatic control. The X-Y dc drive the L200 and requires four interface
the fixture. These pins are used to motors are connected to incremental cables: for RS232, X axis, Y axis and
register the LBON and the X-Y auto- optical encoders, which provide feed- fixture.
prober to the PWB and fixture base back to the controller, and correct
footprint. overshoot and undershoot of the lead
screw. Software description
LBON. The LBON is optional. It is The X-Y-Z movements are moni-
used to gain internal visibility to bus tored by limit switches which use a The autoprober is only part of the
data lines or clocking pins. The probe signal flag to feed back to the con- process to access the MUT; it is the
plate is drilled one-for-one with the troller fatal errors or noncontact of the CAD database which provides the key
PWB drill data. The LBON can hold probe to the PWB. link, as shown in Figure 4. This CAD
up to 100 spring probes, and is database contains the module-depen-
mounted on the same side of the test Controfler. An RS232 port links the dent information such as the device
fixture as is the X-Y autoprober. The controller to the autoprober and the name, pin number, network number,
LBON spring probe X-Y coordinate L200 tester. This port handles all the and the X-Y location for each pin on
points are masked out in the software software communications protocol, the device. The CAD file is post-
and therefore cannot be probed by the the X-Y autoprober movements, and processed to extract the component
X-Y autoprober while it is in use. fixture controls, thus achieving a truly location information prior to building
The entire component net is drilled closed-loop system. These functions the X-Y database on the L200 tester.
on the LBON and the unused holes are all monitored and can be used in Not all of the devices in the CAD
provide access for the autoprober, either remote or manual mode. database are candidates for the L200
which probes through the unloaded The controller can be programmed autoprober, only the devices that are
probe holes to make contact with the to move the X-Y autoprober up to 14 defined in the circuit database for that
PWB. The LBON plate is pneumat- inches per second at an accuracy of module. Once this set of devices is de-
ically activated, causing the spring ±.002 of an inch per axis, with a fined, an indirect command file is pro-

December 1985 47

Some of the commands that the autoprober understands are:
ALIGN ... fine module orientation
....
REGISTER .... rough module orientation
...
HOME ....... go to home position
PROBE ....... move to the requested X-Y location and
deploy probe
MOVE ... .... move to the requested X-Y location
UNPROBE .... ... remove probe from the board
MOVEMENT ...... . move to the requested X-Y location
LOCATION ..... .. request current location
STATUS ....... get current status
FIXTURE .... ... open and close
LBON ... .... open and close
duced to build the X-Y database on the been reached, or FATAL, signifying
L200 tester for that module. that the point has not been reached.
After the module X-Y database is For example, the FATAL reply could
built, the CAD database can be ac- mean the hardware failed, the probe
cessed under L200 program control was not fully deployed, or the com-
and formatted into commands which mand error checking failed. If the reply
are communicated to the X-Y auto- is FATAL, the tester will reissue the
prober for nodal access. command. If the fatal condition can
be cleared, the normal tester controller
L200 software interface communications will continue. Other-
to the autoprober wise, the autoprober will be set to
"out-of- service, " and a request will be
The X-Y application controls all the sent to the operator to use the hand-
communications with the prober and held probe.
is driven by executive event flags that Built into the autoprober software is
are set as different conditions become the ability to detect an unsafe condi-
true. The event flags trigger routines tion, which is defined as a person or
specific to the autoprober to perform object tripping the safety devices in the
particular prober functions on the safe area. The safety devices could be a
module. These event flags include mat, light curtain, or an emergency
flags for probing the module, remov- stop button.
ing the probe, ending the test cycle, When any of the devices signal that
and ending the test sequence. an unsafe condition has occurred, the
As an example, if the flag to probe autoprober will immediately stop the
the module is set, the flow of the pro- command in process and reply to the
gram and the sequence of the com- tester that an unsafe condition has oc-
mands communicated to the auto- curred. When the tester receives this
prober would be: type of reply, the L200 autoprober
software will, through a series of steps,
(1) Get the point to be probed from try to recover and continue with the
the L200 executive software, the last command sent once the unsafe
tester's operating system. condition has been cleared.
(2) Request the X-Y coordinates If at any time safety devices are
from the X-Y database for that device violated while the test program is run-
pin. ning on the tester (when the auto-
(3) Issue a probe command contain- prober and the tester are communicat-
ing the X-Y data for the point to be ing, for example), the autoprober will
probed. sense the safety violation and stop all
The autoprober responds with movement. The controller will reply to
VERIFY, signifying that the point has the current command specified by the
48
tester with WAIT, signifying a safety
violation. When the L200 test program
senses that the reply from the con-
troller has been a WAIT, a set of ques-
tions will be asked of the operator to
determine the severity of the safety
violation.
After all questions have been an-
swered, responses are correct, and
safety devices operable, power is reap-
plied to the autoprober (if testing is
reinstated) and normal communica-
tion between the tester and the auto-
prober controller is reestablished after
the autoprober is initialized.
Job sync control program
The job sync control program is an
RSX1IM task that performs the actual
communication between the L200 X-Y
application program and the auto-
prober. This job sync control program
was developed because of the inability
of the L200 programming language to
communicate with the outside world,
and it also allows communication with
other types of devices that may be a
part of the process (a bar-code reader
or board handler, for example). The
job sync control program formats all
communication between the tester and
the controller, controls the timing of
all commands, calculates the error
codes for each command, and inter-
prets all replies from the controller.
Optimized movement:
diagnostic probing
The nodal verification process, run
on the L200, can encompass as many as
2000 nodes, and should be performed a
minimum number of times per module.
In the nonautomated prober applica-
tion, the operator probes each node on
the module in the random order the
nodes were put into the module circuit
database.
The nominal intemodal movement
time for an operator is generally about
30 to 60 seconds. The autoprober im-
plementation has reduced this time to
an average of five seconds, depending
on the distance traveled. An optimized
movement algorithm was imple-
mented to reduce the distance moved,
IEEE DESIGN &TEST
and has subsequently reduced the in-
ternodal movement time to less than
three seconds.
The module circuit database con-
tains all networks that can be con-
sidered for the nodal verification, and
is accessed and cross-referenced with
the CAD database. A command file is
produced to control the optimized
movement nodal verification. An opti-
mized movement nodal verification
with the autoprober is currently
averaging less than four hours. The
non-optimized nodal time (i.e., hand-
held probe) is running about 24 hours
(typically three eight-hour shifts).
Bar-code reader
Timnothy J. Moore has been a senior soft-
ware engineer for the Computer Aided Test
Software Engineering group of Digital
Equipment Corp. in Andover, Massachu-
setts since 1981. He has been involved in the
design and implementation of software
using CAD data to automate fixture inter-
connect and probing activities on the L200.
He is interested in the areas of robotics,
automation control, applications of arti-
ficial intelligence, and surface-mount
technology.

Since there is a need to track

pass/fail data, serial numbers, module
types, and module revisions, the soft-
ware to read a bar-code reader has
been incorporated into the L200 X-Y
application software. The various
elements of the bar code on the module
are entered with the bar-code reader
prior to running the test.
Error checking is done on all data
received. This allows the module
name, serial number, and the module
revision level to accompany the pass/
fail data of the module. The operator Stephen J. Gamer joined Digital Equip-
is requested to reenter the correct in-ment Corp. in 1974, working for the ATE
formation if any data was not read or Module Applications Group on Interface
was wrong. This process is currently inHardware. He has been in the Advance Test
Technology Group for the past four years,
use in production to send information and is responsible for Advanced Fixture
to INFINET to track modules through Development in support of surface-mount
the L200 test process. and substrate-interconnect technology.
His technical interests include fine-line
T oday, there are an increasing substrate probing and non-contact test
methods.
Tnumber of X-Y autoprobing sys-
tems used in DEC manufacturing
plants. They have successfully demon-
strated that the amount of time to
probe manually can be reduced by a
factor of ten. Several enhancements
are presently being considered which
include bar-code reading, automatic
load and unload of the PWB and
double-sided probing for pure surface-
mounted PWBs.
Reduced tester time and increased
throughput can be achieved by utiliz-
ing the X-Y auto-prober to assist the The authors' address is Digital Equipment
L200 functional tester in automating Corp., 100 Minuteman Rd., Andover, MA
diagnostic probing. = 01810.
December 1985