Project overview:

• Goal: To develop build a device and software that enables easier reverse engineering of PCB’s by using X-Ray technology and image processing. Optionally, an AI component can be developed to aid further analysis.
• Location: Amsterdam / Eindhoven
  
• Timeframe: 6-8 months
• Starting: TBA
• Complexity: HIGH
• Team: Product Manufacturers
• Supervisor: Ralph Moonen

As a student, you have:

Education:

Master or PhD in the relevant domain.

Technical skills:

• Electrical Engineering;
• Image processing;
• 3D-printing;
• X-ray;
  
• AI;
  
• Reverse Engineering.

Soft skills:

• The ability to work well in an international team environment;
• Good communication skills;
• Organized;
• Clear documentation writing skills.

The project you will be working on:

Secura wishes to increase their reverse engineering capabilities for hardware and consumer products. Often, Secura would like to create images of PCB’s where traces can be seen, so that the design can be determined. Identifying test pads, data busses, power lines, serial interfaces and components is currently a manual affair. Multi-layer PCB’s are virtually impossible to analyse using only visual inspection. Using X-Ray technology can aid in the analysis of PCB’s. This has been done in the past (see https://dforte.ece.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2020/08/ISTFA_2015_PCB-RE-final.pdf). However, we wish to attempt to create a system out of relatively inexpensive off-the-shelf components such as available on Ebay and AliExpress.

Using off-the-shelf components and 3D-printed parts, you will design and build a prototype device that is capable of performing x-ray tomography of devices (consumer products) with multi-layer PCB’s.

Optionally, Using AI you will build an environment that can label traces in the images to help reverse engineering. As an intern, you will be responsible for the following:

• Gathering requirements together with the market group and the lab engineers;
• Creating a feasibility study and high-level design;
• Selecting and sourcing the appropriate components incl digital X-Ray sensor;
• Designing and creating the physical enclosures and parts using 3D-printing techniques;
• Finalising a PoC;
• Validating the results together with the Market Group PM.

Optionally, we would like you to explore the use of AI to perform post-processing of the images to have an AI aid in identifying and labelling PCB traces and identifying potentially interesting features. This part can be a separate internship also, but if time permits it can be a part of this project also.