Customized test systems rely on standard components
When developing a customized tester for automotive or aerospace applications, you may find that standardized components can save you time and money.
Greg Reed, Contributing Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 1/14/2008 8:11:00 AM
In an era when many parts have become standardized, oddly there still persists a strong justification for customized test processes for automotive and aerospace applications. These seemingly opposing trends can be the source of lively debate among test and measurement engineering teams.
Standardized test processes offers several benefits. By using the same process for several applications, a manufacturer can take advantage of reduced maintenance, less training time, fewer replacement parts, and lower test cost leveraged by volume production. One can generally infer that standardized processes will be consistent and accurate and will offer significant time savings.
On the other hand, because some military, aerospace, and automotive systems must be precise and reliable in extremely harsh environments, customized test solutions can offer a better, or sometimes, the only solution. Depending on the test process, customization will likely require higher adaptation levels for equipment (hardware and software), more complex setups and installation, and more servicing. In addition, more intense engineering involvement can add significantly to cost.
Ironically, developers of customized test setups often find it simpler and more cost effective to employ standard equipment in their designs. The evolution of COTS parts, automated test equipment, data-acquisition interfaces, rack integration, and hardware and software compatibility has enabled more creative use of interchangeable subsystems.
Agilent Technologies, for example, offers a range of test and measurement services geared toward aerospace and defense companies, focusing on signal simulation, RF component test, battlefield communications verification, flight hardware, materials management, and waveform development and analysis. Racal Instruments offers modular test solutions for laser diode, burn-in test, jet engine diagnostics, and radar simulation. Meanwhile, Teradyne has supplied custom test solutions for the Navy’s Consolidated Automatic Support System (CASS) program, a family of integrated test solutions for the Army, and the Third Echelon Test series to provide field diagnostics for the Marine Corps.
To satisfy demanding aerospace and automotive applications, test equipment and processes must optimize return on investment. Relying on a combination of automated tools and custom test processes may require a creative mix only gained through years of experience. Engineers working on high-reliability applications, however, often find that these seemingly conflicting trends actually can produce a complementary, elegant solution.
