UNDER THE HOOD
It looks like a biomechanical bug from a surreal sci-fi film, but the new Kalos XW test head is actually the latest in clean-room technology. The million-dollar machine can electronically inspect 128 memory chips at once, speeding up production lines and - hopefully - lowering the price of flash memory for digital cameras, PDAs, and MP3 players. The Kalos' avant-garde aesthetic - courtesy of frog design, the ultrahip house that's behind everything from Sony's original Trinitron to Disney's Cruise Line - harks back to the glory days of mainframe computing, when futuristic technology actually looked the part. But this form has a function besides just looking cool in a clean room - its small footprint conserves valuable floor space. Here's a look inside:
The test head sits over another machine that sorts either raw memory wafers or finished memory chips.
Each memory component is wired up to one of 32 "Tester-On-A-Card" boards. On average, 1 out of every 20 chips fails.
The boards can be removed from the top of the test head, providing easy access for servicing.
The test starts with a series of electrical pulses transmitted to the component through user-accessible interface lines. The chip replies with its own signals that the Kalos measures for speed and accuracy. A flash memory chip with only a few megabytes of storage space is put through its paces in a couple of seconds while a 64-meg job can take up to a minute.
Eight tendrils are packed with wires running to external power supplies and a PC. The computer stores the library of test programs for each Tester-On-A-Card and acts as the control panel for the entire test head.
Eight fans keep the Testers-On-A-Card cool. The vents are engineered to channel the exhaust out the left side of the machine; the operator stands in front.
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