Patent ID: 6915006

Claim:
A three dimensional inspection system for inspecting ball grid array devices having a plurality of balls, wherein the ball grid array device is positioned in an optical system, the inspection system comprising: a) a fixed illuminator located to illuminate at least one ball on the ball grid array device; b) a single sensor; c) a first optical element positioned to transmit light to the sensor; d) a second optical element positioned to direct light from the at least one ball to the sensor, where the sensor, the first optical element and the second optical element cooperate to obtain at least two differing views of the at least one ball, the sensor providing an output representing the at least two differing views; and e) a processor, coupled to receive the output, where the processor processes the output by using a triangulation method to calculate a three dimensional position of the at least one ball with reference to a pre-calculated calibration plane.