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Open Access

ARTICLE

Deep Learning Driven Real-Time PCB Inspection Using an Optimized YOLO v9 Architecture

Jigar Sarda1, Rohan Vaghela1, Akash Kumar Bhoi2, Chang-Won Yoon3,*, Mangal Sain4,*
1 Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Chandubhai S. Patel Institute of Technology, Charotar University of Science & Technology, Anand, Gujarat, India
2 Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Graphic Era Deemed to be University, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
3 Department of Computer Engineering, Dongseo University, 47 Jurye-ro, Sasang-gu, Busan, Republic of Korea
4 Division of Computer & Information Engineering, Regional Innovation Center, Dongseo University, Busan, Republic of Korea
* Corresponding Author: Chang-Won Yoon. Email: email; Mangal Sain. Email: email

Computers, Materials & Continua https://doi.org/10.32604/cmc.2026.080112

Received 08 February 2026; Accepted 27 March 2026; Published online 29 April 2026

Abstract

Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are essential components that strongly influence the performance and reliability of modern electronic systems. However, minor and visually subtle manufacturing defects can degrade product quality and pose serious challenges for automated inspection systems. Existing deep learning–based methods often struggle to simultaneously achieve high detection accuracy, real-time processing speed, and compact model size. This study proposes an enhanced approach for real-time PCB defect detection using advanced object detection models. A dedicated dataset of bare PCBs was developed and carefully annotated with six defect categories: open circuits, missing holes, spurs, mouse bites, short circuits, and spurious copper. Multiple YOLO-based models were trained and evaluated on this dataset, among which the YOLOv9-small model demonstrated superior performance, achieving a mAP@50 of 99.2% and a mAP@50–95 of 63.1%. To further enhance computational efficiency, optimization techniques such as pruning and quantization were applied to the YOLOv9-small model. These optimizations reduced model size by 36.4% and increased processing speed by 24.7%, while maintaining high detection accuracy with a mAP@50 of 98.6%. Overall, the experimental results demonstrate that the optimized YOLOv9-based model provides a highly accurate, efficient, and practical solution for automated PCB defect detection in real-world electronics manufacturing environments.

Keywords

Printed circuit boards (PCB); defects detection; you look only once (YOLO); deep learning; computer vision

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