Process for Creating a Standard Hardware and Software Platform
Bryan - March 1, 2021
Large organizations can have many test systems. As the number of products created increases the possibility of increasing test stands also increases. A universal tester that can “test everything” is typically not a good idea. Too many people have tried and failed at creating a universal tester. A standard test platform is a great idea for reducing the cost of testing. Creating a standard platform means selecting instrumentation and tools that can be used across...
Process for Updating Legacy Testers
Wes - February 12, 2021
Introduction One simple truth that test and automation engineers know well is that technology is always changing and advancing. Even the most state-of-the-art system today will be obsolete tomorrow. Obsolescence is caused by a number of factors, but regardless of the cause, if you don’t closely support your system, it will eventually become outdated and it will need to be updated. That being the case, it is important to have a good strategy for updating...
7 Common Mistakes Made When Replacing the Hardware for a System Update
Haden - February 11, 2021
Mistake #1: Trying to match hardware spec for spec The most common way to replace hardware is to follow the intuitive first step--check the specifications of the hardware that needs to be replaced and look for hardware that most closely matches. The problem with this method is that systems most often need an update due to the hardware being out of date or nearing obsolescence. If you try to match specifications, your closest match will...
SCPI Makes Life Easy
Brian - October 10, 2018
How many times have you looked for an instrument driver, and find that it doesn’t exist? It happens, and that overwhelming feeling of doom looms overhead. Don’t let that feeling overcome you until you have verified that there is not a SCPI interface. SCPI stands for “Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments.” As the name says there could possibly be a set of standard commands that will help you still be able to control your instrument...