The MX high-speed component placement system is said to be capable of placement rates up to 80,000 cph. Features cascading modularity, with 216 feeder slots per segment; full-range component capability; double placement areas in each module, and a multilevel transport system reported to eliminate “local head-downtimes.”
 
Mimot, www.mimot.com

  

The AST-700 bottom-side, screw-fastening work cell is designed to offer the ability to selectively fasten components using screws from the bottom side after odd-form placement. Uses a bowl-style system with blow feeder to automatically present and drive screws into the desired locations. Said to offer fully programmable x, y and z motion with in-line conveyor, positive PCB stop location/clamping, and programmable fastening locations. Includes a second chance feature with screw detection and purge function to prevent false error.
 

IS415, a 200°C Tg product, is Pb-free compatible and offers improved signal integrity performance. Now has electrical loss in the 0.009 range using the split post resonant cavity method, and around 0.0135 using the Bereskin Stripline test method at 10 GHz.  Currently available in North America, with manufacturing in Asia to begin in 2007.  Is RoHS compliant and a UL94V-0-rated substrate.
 
Isola Group, www.isola-group.com
  
 

The AOM-700 pick-and-place work cell is said to be capable of picking odd-form components, connectors or a variety of other parts from a tube- or bowl-style feeder. Places each component onto a PCB, offers fully programmable x, y and z motion with inline conveyor, positive PCB location/clamping, and programmable picking head selection. Rotating head permits selection of the gripper position to be used for assembly.
 
Promation, www.pro-mation-inc.com 
 
 
 

PRO 6 series robotic soldering system reportedly provides multiple technologies built into a single work cell. The PRO 6Td is a dual-head soldering robot that may be configured with both iron tip and diode laser soldering heads. May be independently controlled for progressive assembly or used in sequence for high output.
 
The soldering head and automatic solder feeder are said to be dynamically independent and adjustable from one another. May be programmed to look for known fiducial points, analyze them and automatically center for a reported 100% pinpoint accuracy.
 
Promation, www.Pro-mation-inc.com

 

IS620 laminate now comes with enhanced electrical attributes. Reportedly offers 25% lower dielectric loss and improved thermal performance. Dielectric loss at 10 GHz are said to be in the 0.007 range using the stripline test method and in the 0.005 range with the split post method.
Isola, www.isola-group.com
 
 
 

The YTX-3000 x-ray inspection system now comes with 3-D tomography. Is said to be ideally suited for analysis of interconnections for stacked die, MEMS, package-in-package and package-on-package.
 
YESTech, www.yestechinc.com

 
 
 

PolarChip SF3000 is a soft silicone-free, thermally conductive material suited for filling air gaps between heat-generating devices on PCBs. The highly compressible thermal gap pad is a fluoropolymer composite that consists of an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene matrix filled with boron nitride particles. The reinforcing nature of the ePTFE matrix results in a composite that is said to be physically robust, easy to handle and does not require additional reinforcement. Produced in continuous rolls with a pressure sensitive adhesive on one side. Comes in sheets or rolls of precision die-cut parts suitable for high-volume automation assembly. 

W.L. Gore & Associates, www.gore.com

   
 
 

 The 8311M-76G permanent/removable mounting adhesive comes on double-coated polyester film and is said to bring a clean, permanent/removable bond to digital imaging, electronics, medical devices and graphic arts industries for temporarily mounting foams, polycarbonates, plastics to glass and other hard surfaces.
 
Has a 76 gloss-gloss liner polycoated and is moisture-resistant. Repositioning and removability of less than 1 lb. for many surfaces.
 
Available up to 54 wide; one-year shelf life when stored under cool, dry conditions.
 
Adchem Corp., www.adchem.com

 
 
 
 

The High-Speed Cable Guide details cable assemblies, cables, and custom capabilities. Data Rate cable assemblies include 50ÿ and 75ÿ coax and 100ÿ Twinax cable assemblies on a variety of pitches along with a high-density cable assembly, featuring a signal integrity optimizing contact system. Custom and mix-and-match Data Rate cable capabilities are also featured.  New to the guide is the Data Rate Cable Selector that includes specifications for high-speed cables, including 20ÿ Quiet Power, 100ÿ Twinax, and an assortment of 50ÿ and 75ÿ coax options. High-speed I/O cable assemblies include V-Port and HDMI 100ÿ differential pair cable assemblies and Edge Rate cable assembly.
 
Samtec, www.samtec.com
  
 
 

XJTAG Professional is for debugging and testing PCBs with high pin count BGA devices. The interconnect test is said to exercise 5,000 nets in less than a second because of improvements to algorithms. It can also identify a higher proportion of faults and accurately report their locations. XJEase has added language features added to make the whole test script writing process more intuitive. Test code is now separated from configuration files. A COM Interface has been added to integrate with test executives such as LabVIEW, Visual Basic and other Windows-based custom applications. 
 

The TestStation ICT now has UltraPin II 121 and 121a pin boards, options that include multiplexed or pure pin, analog-only or hybrid, and low pin-count or high pin-count. Offer non-multiplexed operation with unrestricted pin assignments for both analog and digital test applications and flexibility for programming driver/sensor logic levels, sense thresholds, slew rates and backdrive limits. Come with 15 mV drive and sense accuracy, 2.3 mV programming resolution, low driver impedance and ability to monitor and program backdrive currents. The 121 version has 128 real digital/analog pins per board and supports a maximum of 2,048 high-performance pins when configured in a TestStation LH, or 3,840 when installed in TestStation LX. The 121a version has 128 analog pins. Pricing starts at less than $100,000.
 
Teradyne, www.teradyne.com