EC-SEG: Electronic Component Segmentation for PCB Assurance and Counterfeit Avoidance

PCB Assurance currently relies on manual physical inspection, which is time consuming, expensive and prone to error. In this study, we propose a novel automated segmentation algorithm to detect and isolate PCB components from the boards called EC-Seg. Segmentation and component localization is a vital preprocessing step in component identification, component authentication, as well as in detecting logos and text markings in components. EC-Seg is an efficient method to automate Quality assurance tool-chains and also to aid Bill of Material Extraction in PCBs. Finally, EC-Seg can be used as a Region proposal algorithm for object detection networks to detect and classify microelectronic components, and also to perform sensor fusion with X-Rays to aid in artifact removal in PCB X-Ray tomography. Index Terms—PCB Hardware Assurance, Component Segmentation, Component detection, AutoBoM, Physical Inspection, Visual inspection, Counterfeit detection