How Automation And Flying Probe Are Redrawing ICT Strategy with Seica's Luca Corli

EMS@C-LEVEL · 24 Feb 2026 · 6m

What this episode covers

Luca Corli of Seica discusses the launch of the Valid SL, an inline in-circuit tester designed for large, thick boards with over 4,000 pins, and the Valid LR, which allows the reuse of legacy bed-of-nails fixtures from multiple vendors. Corli explains the strategic balance between flying probe testers, favored for rapid product changes and short runs, and ICT, which remains essential for high-pin-count, heavy, or large-format boards. The conversation highlights how integrating these methods with boundary scan and functional testing optimizes throughput and coverage. Finally, Corli notes market shifts, with automotive softness in Europe contrasted by strong growth in India and Southeast Asia.

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • The Amp Hour · 1h 05m

    Control loops & Flying probers - Quassating Quadcopter Quantophrenia

    Dave Jones and Chris Gammell discuss Dave's frustration with an Agilent U1272A multimeter's software failing to upload data for his automated resistor testing jig, and his anger over Tyne Metropolitan College removing his copyright from a PCB tutorial. They explore the engineering of custom test jigs versus flying probers, noting that flying probers offer generic testing while custom jigs provide speed for high-volume production. The conversation shifts to Dave's quadcopter project using an Arduino and HobbyKing components, highlighting the necessity of control loops for stability, before covering industry news on Chinese hackerspaces and the history of dry cell batteries.

  • Embedded.fm · 54m

    309: Nature's Engineers

    Pete Staples, CEO and co-founder of Blue Clover Devices, explains how his company bridges the gap between hardware development and manufacturing through standardized testing tools. He details the Production Line Tool (PLT) and the ICT 100A fixture, which allow developers to run the same firmware programming and electrical tests in the office as on the factory floor, reducing handoff ambiguities. Staples also discusses the strategic decision to productize these tools to compete with giants like SEGGER and National Instruments, while addressing security concerns in their PLT Cloud system and the impact of tariffs on manufacturing flexibility.

  • Embedded.fm · 52m

    218: Neutron Star of Dev Boards

    Dirk Akeman, partnership marketing manager at SEGGER, explains the architecture and evolution of J-Link debuggers, detailing how internal microcontrollers and FPGAs enable high-speed communication and features like ETM trace. He discusses the company's rigorous testing methodology, which involves maintaining a library of nearly 3,000 evaluation boards and using their own tools for internal development to ensure reliability. Akeman also highlights the shift from reactive debugging to proactive verification using tools like Ozone and SystemView, which allow engineers to profile code coverage and trace interrupts in real-time to prevent bugs before delivery.

  • 014 - Ferrycast

    Joe Grand, founder of Grand Idea Studio and Dangerous Prototypes, discusses his history with the L0pht and his mission to empower hardware hackers through open-source tools. He details the JTAGulator, a device designed to automatically determine JTAG pinouts, and explains how it integrates with software like OpenOCD and UrJTAG. Grand also covers PCB reverse engineering services, comparing destructive delayering in China with non-destructive CT scanning, and highlights the growing industry demand for reverse engineers in automotive and aerospace sectors.

  • The Amp Hour · 1h 13m

    An Interview with Art Kay

    Art Kay, an application manager at Texas Instruments, discusses his career starting at Burr Brown and the transition to TI, highlighting the shift from laser-trimming bipolar devices to digital trimming in CMOS. He details the evolution of test engineering, from homemade GPIB systems to modern high-speed parallel testers, and explains the distinction between characterization and production test. Kay also introduces TI's Precision Labs, a comprehensive training program featuring video courses and hands-on evaluation modules, designed to teach precision analog design and SAR data converter fundamentals to new engineers and students.

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by EMS@C-LEVEL. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.