Flying Probe Testing for Low to Medium Production
The SPEA 4050 is a four-probe flying probe tester aimed squarely at low and medium production volumes. Four high-speed flying heads work from the top of the board, and the S2 configuration adds bottom-side tooling when a job calls for it — so one machine covers a wide span of test requirements.
Because the 4050 needs no bed-of-nails fixture, there is no fixture to design, build, or store. That removes both the up-front cost and the lead time normally associated with bringing a new board into test, which matters most when volumes are modest or the product mix changes often.
Boards up to 500 × 400mm are handled manually, or up to 1500 × 400mm in-line, within a footprint of just 1.7m². As the sole UK & Ireland SPEA distributor since 2004, Flying Test Systems can advise on the right configuration for your volumes and board mix.
Key Capabilities
Fixtureless testing with the measurement accuracy of a bench instrument.
High Throughput
Linear motors on all three axes give fast probe movement with mechanical stability that holds up over years of production use.
Micro-SMD Probing
Accurate contact on pads down to 01005, including flexible and thin circuits, using optical encoders on each axis.
No Fixturing Cost
Nothing to build, nothing to store. New boards go into test as soon as the program is generated, not weeks later.
Intuitive Programming
Leonardo OS2 generates test programs in minutes, with or without a CAD file, then debugs and tunes them automatically.
Multi-Mode Probing
One Platform, Many Test Techniques
Each of the four flying probes can be put to work on in-circuit test, power-on test, sink and source analogue measurement, digital drive and sense, on-board flash programming, boundary scan, or prescaler measurement.
While the top probes work the upper face, the 4050 S2 can raise a bottom platform carrying bed-of-nails fixtures, high-current supplies, digital I/O, high-speed signal paths, fixed probes, or planarity supports — lifting both throughput and coverage without a second machine.
Precision Positioning
Built for Boards That Keep Getting Smaller
High-performance linear optical encoders on the X, Y, and Z axes hold position accurately enough to contact 01005 micro-SMD pads, and to keep doing so consistently over long production runs rather than drifting out over time.
Flexible circuits, thin substrates, and sticky boards all test reliably. Ultra-Fast Soft-Touch probing keeps contact force low, so pads and joints come away unmarked and unstressed.
Measurement Integrity
Accuracy Down to 0.1 Picofarads
Capacitance measurement resolves to 0.1pF, with signal integrity maintained end to end — no degradation and no interference between channels to muddy a reading.
Signals are acquired within hundreds of microseconds, so the measurement itself never becomes the bottleneck. The practical result is fewer false calls, less retest, and defects caught before a board leaves the line.
Leonardo OS2
Test Programs in Minutes, Not Weeks
Leonardo OS2 builds a test program automatically, whether or not a CAD file is available, and the S2 System Control halves the time that takes compared with the previous generation. Debug and tuning are automatic too.
Pick and place X-Y files import directly, board repair is software-guided, and the system is Built-In Self-Test compliant. Process control software sits on top, monitoring and analysing production so problems surface early.
What Can the 4050 Test?
One platform, no fixtures — covering a wide range of board types and applications.
PCB Assemblies
Bare PCBs
Flexible Circuits
Thin & Sticky Boards
Micro-SMD Assemblies
Load Boards
Probe Cards
Panels of Boards
LED Panels
Power Electronics
Other Flying Probe Testers
SPEA 4080
Eight-probe flying probe tester for high-volume production with double-sided probing.
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SPEA 4060
Versatile mid-range flying probe system for flexible production testing across a wide range of volumes.
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SPEA 4020
Entry-level flying probe system for cost-effective PCB electrical test and validation.
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