Test Ideas

Synchronize sensors and cameras
By Shih-Jie Chou, Rui-Cian Weng, and Tai-Shan Liao, National Applied Research Laboratories, Instrument Technology Research Center, HsinChu, Taiwan, September 1, 2010
Measurement systems often use cameras and sensors that must be synchronized. This aerial-photography system includes a camera built from CCD image sensors, an inertial measurement unit, a GPS unit, and circuits that provide trigger signals to synchronize the measurements. More
Test Ideas: Find vibrations in defective rotating parts
By Jim Axelson, Bauer Controls, July 1, 2010
To eliminate aliasing errors when testing rotating systems such as automobile transmissions, you can build a position-based data-acquisition system with a low-pass anti-aliasing filter. More
Test Ideas: Helmet tester verifies compliance
By Aniket, Consultant for Aum ElectroTech, Mumbai, India, June 1, 2010
My company has developed a test system that evaluates a helmet's impact attenuation to ensure the helmet meets industry standards for withstanding impacts. More
Test Ideas: Comprehensive automated subassembly testing
Doug Parrish, Comtech PST, Melville, NY, May 1, 2010
Functional testing often requires you to simulate analog and digital signals that a UUT (unit under test) encounters in actual operation. You also may need to emulate control signals and commands. I recently developed a system that tests four digital control board subassemblies used in RF amplifiers. More
Test Ideas: Program the SPI bus with a DIO module
By William Drago, L-3 Communications, Hauppauge, NY, April 1, 2010
Data-acquisition modules, often thought of as process-control instruments, have found their way into electronics test. With their digital I/O lines, data-acquistion modules can emulate serial buses. Engineers use these I/O lines to program devices at production test. More
Test Ideas: Linearize measurements from bridge circuits
By Camilo Quintáns-Graña and Jorge Marcos-Acevedo, University of Vigo, Spain, March 1, 2010
Bridge circuits have long been popular for conditioning signals from resistive sensors. But the sensors you connect to a passive bridge with one measuring branch don’t produce linear outputs. More
Test Ideas: Sort thyristors with a test circuit
By Chee Hua How, TDK Malaysia, February 1, 2010
Thyristor data sheets will specify typical values for latching current and hold current, but you may need to sort thyristors based on the difference between the two--not their individual values--to ensure that the thyristor will properly control a circuit. More
Test Ideas: Signal generator runs on Visual Basic
By William Grill, Riverhead Systems, December 1, 2009
Test applications often call for a clock signal. Rather than tie up a function generator, you can build a programmable clock generator with just two ICs. More
Test Ideas: Controller keeps circuits cool
By Chien-Hung Chen, Mao-Chiao Weng, and Tai-Shan Liao, Instrument Technology Research Center, National Applied Research Laboratories, Hsinchu, Taiwan, November 1, 2009
In many industry applications, you often need to operate an instrument or a device under test at low temperature. When this need arises, you can build a small thermoelectric cooling controller for your instrument that can control temperature to within 1°C. More
Test Ideas: DMM handles logic nanosecond-pulse-width waveforms
By Marián Štofka, Slovak University of Technology, Bratislava, Slovakia, October 1, 2009
When testing sequential-logic circuits, you may find that, although the repetition rate of a logic signal is within the range of your DMM, you can’t measure it. More
Test Ideas: Pulse generator aids IC testing
By Kevin Frick, Maxim Integrated Products, Sunnyvale, CA, September 1, 2009
As ICs increase in complexity and decrease in size, their pin counts drop or, at best, remain constant. The result: a need for pin-saving measures like serial programming. More
Test Ideas: Dropout alarm frees engineers' time
By John Lo Giudice, STMicroelectronics, August 1, 2009
When testing a power supply or running a thermal test on a component or system, you often need to monitor a voltage and take action should that voltage drop below a specified level. You can build a circuit that monitors a test voltage and triggers an audible alarm if the voltage dips too low or shuts off. More
Test Ideas: Emulate SPI signals with a digital I/O card
By Andy Street, Autoliv Electronics, Lowell, MA, June 1, 2009
When developing a design-verification tester for millimeter-wave SOC (system-on-chip) devices, my co-workers and I needed to combine switching, electrical measurements, temperature measurement, a parallel digital interface, and a serial digital interface into one instrument. More
Test Ideas: Program resistance in a bridge circuit
By Alexander Bell, Infosoft International, New York, NY, May 1, 2009
Sensors such as strain gages, RTDs (resistance temperature detectors), and thermistors produce a resistance that's proportional to force or temperature. If you measure a sensor's resistance, you can calculate the physical parameter. Circuits such as resistance bridges can help you measure the unknown resistance. More
Test Ideas: Serial port tests digital circuits
By Yury Magda, Consultant, Cherkassy, Ukraine, April 1, 2009
A PC's serial port provides signal lines that you can use to expand the number of input signals. With some additional circuitry tied to these lines, you can use the port to test digital TTL logic-level circuits. More
Test Ideas: Bias current modulation eliminates wiring errors
By W. Stephen Woodward, Consultant, Chapel Hill, NC, March 1, 2009
Diodes make good temperature sensors, but they require an excitation current to produce a PN-junction voltage. That excitation current causes voltage drops in measurement wires because of a wire's resistance. You need to compensate for those voltage drops so that the measurement will accurately represent the diode voltage. More
Test Ideas: Generate a swept sine in LabView
By Sean McPeak, University of California, San Diego, February 1, 2009
To implement a swept sine wave with a multifunction data-acquisition card, you need to generate the data points and send them to the card. You can create a swept sine function in LabView with just one virtual instrument that can control start and stop frequencies, sample rate, and sweep duration. More
Test Ideas: Produce AC test signals
By Tiger Zhou and Robert Dobkin, Linear Technology, December 1, 2008
AC testing of electronic systems often requires a low-distortion signal source to excite a DUT. Instead of using a signal generator and a power amplifier to produce a low-distortion AC signal, you can build a power oscillator with just one IC and a few discrete components. More
Test Ideas: Isolate your clock source
By Daniele Danieli, EUROCOM-PRO, Venice, Italy, November 1, 2008
Circuits such as PLL synthesizers, high-dynamic-range ADCs, and timing-sensitive digital networks require a stable and spurious-free clock. Testing these circuits is often difficult if you use a master oscillator, even if the oscillator's signal meets the application's requirements for phase noise and spurious response. More
Test Ideas: Serial port controls ADC
By Yury Magda, Consultant, Cherkassy, Ukraine, October 1, 2008
Engineers often need simple measurement circuits that connect to a PC. When you don't have the resources to buy a digitizer for low-speed signals, you can build one yourself with just two ICs connected to a PC's serial port. More