It sources, it measures, it automates

The 2400 SourceMeter from Keithley Instruments has received the 2006 Test of Time Award.

Martin Rowe, Senior Technical Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 3/1/2006

2006 AWARDS: Test Engineer of the Year Test Product of the Year Test of Time READ OTHER MARCH ARTICLES:  Contents, March 2006

Since the dawn of electrical devices, engineers have had to perform basic voltage, current, and resistance measurements. One instrument that helps with these tasks is the 2400 SourceMeter from Keithley Instruments. In recognition of the 2400's longevity, Test & Measurement World's editors have presented it with the 2006 Test of Time award, an award that recognizes product lines that continue to provide state-of-the-art performance for at least five years after their introduction.

Introduced in 1995, the 2400 was the first of what is now a full line of SourceMeters. It solved measurement problems for engineers testing passive and active components including resistors, capacitors, discrete semiconductors, laser diodes, circuit-protection devices, disk-drive heads, battery chargers, relays, and DC/DC power supplies. Some customers even use the 2400 to calibrate handheld DMMs.

The Keithley Instruments Model 2400 SourceMeter is the 2006 Test of Time award recipient.

Product manager Mark Cejer discovered customers using Keithley's source-measure units (SMUs), particularly the Model 236, for testing components. "The 236 was designed for materials and semiconductor research, but we found customers using it in many other applications," he noted. Cejer began interviewing customers to see what they wanted in an SMU. "They wanted more measurements, more speed, more I/O, and better computer communications, so we set out to design an instrument optimized for engineering and production measurements."

Chuck Cimino, lead engineer of the 2400 design team, found engineers using the Model 236 to make resistance measurements even though the instrument had no resistance function. "They were measuring voltage and current, then calculating resistance

Chuck Cimino led a team of eight engineers in the 2400’s development.

Mark Cejer is the product marketing manager for Keithley’s SourceMeter line.

in a PC, so we decided to design in a resistance-measurement function," Cimino told me. "Customers wanted six-wire resistance measurements, something we had never designed into our products before." With the six-wire-ohms feature, engineers can use the 2400 to evaluate in-circuit components.

Prior to using the 2400, engineers used the Model 236 or other instruments to test components. The most popular set was a power supply and DMM. Others used curve tracers to evaluate discrete semiconductors. The 2400 eliminated the need for separate instruments. Because it has digital I/O, engineers use it to control component handlers, which automates production testing.

The 2400 presented Keithley with several design challenges. "Accuracy wasn't an issue because we already had a good analog front end," said Cimino, "but we had to design an instrument with twice the power of the 236 with added features and make it fit into a case half the size."

Another first for Keithley was the 2400's microcontroller, which was originally designed for automotive applications. It has a coprocessor that's dedicated to measurements, freeing the main processor to handle the display, analog outputs, digital I/O, and computer communications (IEEE 488 and RS-232). The instrument was also the first Keithley product to use flash memory technology for storing firmware. Thus, Keithley engineers can provide custom firmware to customers by e-mail.

Cimino led a team of eight electrical and software engineers who developed the Model 2400. They worked for 16 months to complete the project. Their efforts have paid off, not only for Keithley, but for engineers in many industries.

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