Design for a thermal imaging system using a single-element pyroelectric detector as a sensing element

One method of reliability analysis of printed wiring boards used by Texas Instruments is infrared thermography. A real-time thermal imaging device was used by the quality assurance organization at the Industrial Systems Division, but this system had no data storage or hard-copy capability. An alternative, non-real-time solution which was of moderate cost and which used existing image processing and display equipment was proposed for a feasibility study. A prototype of the system was designed and built at Texas Instruments Industrial Systems Division, Johnson City, Tennessee, in 1986. It was designed to scan a printed circuit board, and then, using image processing techniques, generate a false color thermal map and a three-dimensional thermal contour image from the raw data gathered from the pyroelectric sensor. Testing of the system was performed upon two printed circuit boards in current production by Texas Instruments Industrial Systems Division. The results of the testing with the two printed circuit boards showed that the use of the pyroelectric detector in the application was feasible.