Back to News main...
Double-sided ball grid array assembly techniques vital in producing innovative fish tag monitor
CIL, the Andover based electronics design and manufacturing company, has worked with the scientific research and advisory centre, Cefas, to develop and manufacture a new Data Storage Tag (DST) for fish that uses latest double-sided ball grid array technology to set new standards for this type of monitor.
Tagging of fish provides unparalleled insights into how fish
behave and respond to different environments. This allows a better
understanding of the biology of commercial fish and helps to assess
how different management options, such as closing areas of the
fishery, may help to sustain endangered fish stocks.
CIL, the Andover based electronics design and manufacturing company,
has worked with the scientific research and advisory centre, Cefas,
to develop and manufacture a new Data Storage Tag (DST) for fish
that uses latest double-sided ball grid array technology to set
new standards for this type of monitor.
Tagging of fish provides unparalleled insights into how fish behave
and respond to different environments. This allows a better understanding
of the biology of commercial fish and helps to assess how different
management options, such as closing areas of the fishery, may
help to sustain endangered fish stocks.
To ensure that the normal behaviour of the tagged fish is not
disrupted, the size of the tag is critical. The G5 is only 8mm
wide and 30mm long and weighs just 1 gram in water. This reduced
size will allow tagging studies to be carried out on a wider range
of species and is likely to open up new fields of research. Earlier
versions of Cefas tags have been used on cod, plaice and rays
in the North Sea, the Irish Sea and the English Channel and on
penguins, albatross, tuna, elephant seals and sea turtles worldwide
including in Japan, America, the Falkland Islands, and Australia.
The latest tag stores records of pressure, which is translated
to depth, and temperature. When a tagged fish is caught a reward
is paid to the fishermen for the return of the tag and the data
stored is downloaded for analysis on in-house developed software
systems.
Seas are generally well mapped for depth, tidal range and temperature
and so from the information recorded on these tags it is possible
to determine the scale and seasonal patterns of fish movements.
Cefas has vast experience in this area and the new Cefas G5, the
result of 20 years of research and development, has more memory
and increased capability than existing tags. When designing the
new tag engineers at Cefas were aware that, because of the required
power for unit size, the very latest electronics manufacturing
techniques would have to be used if the product was going to be
a commercial success.
CIL was contacted at the circuit diagram stage and worked in close
collaboration with Cefas to produce a design that could package
the sophisticated electronic circuitry into a circuit board measuring
only 25.00mm x 6.88mm, with all of the larger parts being central
to the PCB as it fits inside a glass tube. Using the powerful
PADS PCB computer aided design program the resultant design uses
innovative double-sided BGA assembly techniques combined with
the very latest surface mount placement equipment provided by
MIRAE machines.
To ensure that the device achieved commercially viable production
yields, the latest flying probe and X-ray testing techniques were
also used.
Another area that was crucial to the success of the product was
that in order to achieve a long operation life, it was necessary
to achieve extremely low quiescent currents in order of 2-3 micro
amps. To achieve this it was necessary to investigate new soldering
and cleaning methods in order to reduce flux leakage paths to
a minimum. CIL uses ALPHA METAL's soldering systems and a complementary
cleaning system throughout the assembly process that enabled the
tags to be manufactured to the cleanliness standard required to
achieve the low quiescent currents that were vital to the project.
CIL produced a viable, proven unit within eight weeks from the
initial meeting and production quantities just four weeks after
that. John Boston, managing director of CIL said: "We were charged
with designing a lot of technology in a small space and I honestly
think no other company could have offered this range of service
or carried out all aspects of the whole job. This project took
us into new areas of technology and we are continuing to build
up our expertise in the use of new soldering and cleaning techniques
to achieve minimum quiescent currents."
Mike Challis, manager of the Electronic Design Team at Cefas said:
"CIL has worked hard to design a PCB layout that met our demanding
size constraints while maintaining high production yields. CIL's
investment in the latest test and manufacturing equipment allied
to its high level of experience and expertise in this field makes
the company ideally suited to produce a product of this type.
We have been particularly pleased by CIL's responsiveness: they
have turned the product around quickly to help us meet our own
tight timescales."
- End -
About the G5 Data Storage Tag
Developed by the Cefas Applied Technology team, in close conjunction
with Fisheries Scientists the G5 is designed to meet the needs
of all scientists involved with fish behaviour research.
This is a highly innovative, market leading product and is supplied
as part of a complete data storage tagging package with Cefas
supplying the tags, readers and software, plus all the technical,
scientific and sales support required.
The G5 has considerable advantages over other tags available in
terms of both capability and price. It is much smaller and lighter
than previous generations of DST and has a much higher memory.
Measuring only 8mm wide and 30mm long and with a weight of only
1 gram in water, the G5 allows tagged fish to behave as naturally
as possible. It also allows tagging studies to be carried out
on a wider range of species, potentially opening up new fields
of research.
The tag is capable of taking one million readings over a one-year
battery life and a key feature of the G5 is its independent pressure
and temperature settings that provide users with increased programming
flexibility.
About Cefas
Cefas is an internationally renowned scientific research and advisory
centre working in fisheries management, environmental protection
and aquaculture. The organisation undertakes a wide range of research,
advisory, consultancy, monitoring and training activities. Its
customer base includes UK and foreign government departments,
international agencies, commercial companies and aid organisations.
Much of the work carried out by Cefas is for the UK Government
and the European Union where its research and advice is utilised
by policy makers, but during the past six years an increasingly
worldwide client base has been developed.
Cefas has a staff of approximately 550 who are based at three
specialist laboratories within the UK and facilities include the
latest laboratory, tank and aquatic field based equipment and
an ocean going research vessel.
Cefas is an Executive Agency of the UK Government's Department
for Environment.
Back to News main...