Rupture Disc Case Study

Rupture disks are a critical safety component to any modern pressure based system to allow for the safe expulsion of pressure during an overpressure situation. Rupture disks are used in a wide range of industries such as automotive, pharmaceutical and aerospace.

Key Fact

Full in-house development of all hardware and software components from CAD to final products.

Testimonials

“The system has already seen production benefits by reducing pressure rupture tolerances from ±14% to <±1% putting the customer at the forefront of rupture disk production.”

Understand

Rupture disks are a critical safety component to any modern pressure based system to allow for the safe expulsion of pressure during an overpressure situation. Rupture disks are used in a wide range of industries such as automotive, pharmaceutical and aerospace. In overpressure situations, it is integral that the disks rupture within low tolerances of their defined overpressure limit to avoid potential disaster and damage to the system.

The production of rupture disks has historically been a manual, analogue based process using a large 5 tonne steel press, multiple gauges and indicators all controlled by a single operator. Complexity of the production process results in high tolerances of the burst pressure of the disk itself which push the limits of design specifications.

The overall issue of high pressure limit tolerances and the expensive, time consuming nature of the production process led to the customer selecting TBG Solutions to re-engineer and automate the production process due to our vast experience in providing bespoke automated production test and measurement solutions.

Engineer

The system is responsible for control and automation of 5 key areas of the production process:

Hydraulic Press Control – Providing necessary clamp forces to hold the sheet material in place.

Tooling – Decision making on specific tools to use during the forming process as well as being able to control the disc geometry during forming.

Hardware control – Control all electromechanical hardware in the system such as valves and pressure transducers.

Disk forming – Control and configuration of all settings and hardware to produce a rupture disk.

Logging of data – Press profiles and all user data including login information, press diagnostics and pressure data are all stored in CSV & database files.

Overall, the system is controlled by a LabVIEW application running on a host PC which communicates via Ethernet with a cRIO-9014 real-time controller and 9104 FPGA based chassis. Communication between the new system & existing hardware such as pressure transducers and pumps is done so via a combination of FPGA based digital signals on the cRIO as well as custom Windows DLL functions to communicate with external software including configuration software for a PID pressure controller.

As well as having the design challenge of software development, careful consideration of the overall enclosure of the system was required by TBG Solutions Glasgow due to the nature of the application operating in a high pressure, wet environment and its inherent risks to the operator from a 5 tonne steel press.

A fully operational enclosure for the press and all associated hardware was produced in-house, this allowed for a high level of customisability of the final build as well as ease of integration of NI and 3rd party hardware in the same IP rated enclosure.

Deliver

Overall, the combination of reconfigurable Real-Time and FPGA based hardware coupled with the ease of development and UI customisability in the LabVIEW IDE provided TBG Solutions with the means to understand, engineer and deliver a turnkey solution to the customer, fitting the initial brief and specification and exceeding customer expectations.

Using LabVIEW & cRIO, we were able to integrate with existing hardware to produce an easy to use modern production process that has already seen production benefits by reducing pressure rupture tolerances from ±14% to <±1% putting the customer at the forefront of rupture disk production.

University Of Manchester Case Study

The University Of Manchester is a leading research university focused on achieving real world impact beyond academia. It is at the forefront of tackling disease, poverty and sustainable energy solutions.

Key Fact

In Nigeria, oil theft from pipelines accounts for the loss of 20% of Nigerian oil, amounting to $150 million per day and causing significant environmental damage.

Testimonials

“The prevention of oil theft will in turn prevent environmental damage from spilt oil.”

Understand

In Nigeria, oil theft from pipelines accounts for the loss of 20% of Nigerian oil, amounting to $150 million per day and causing significant environmental damage.

The challenge was to develop a system that could provide instant theft warnings. A system such as this would be of enormous value to the oil industry. The solution would also become a strong deterrent to future theft with the threat of a quick detection and response.

The project was a collaboration between TBG Solutions and The University of Manchester funded by the Technology Strategy Board.

Engineer

The system needed to be:

Reliable: able to distinguish between vibration events that are not attacks.
Covert: hard to detect with no visible signs of the installation that would attract attention and reveal the location of the system; preventing tampering or removal.
Wireless: providing independence so that the system is not reliant on a single link, which can be costly and unsecure.
Robust: requiring no servicing for many years while the system is operational.
The wireless (via satellite link) sensor nodes were positioned at 3km intervals along the pipeline. Expandability in design allow the system to be deployed across many hundreds of kilometres. Algorithms were developed that used vibration data to accurately pinpoint theft locations.

Deliver

The finished design was successfully demonstrated across a 1km test loop in Scotland.

The successful implementation of this project would provide Nigeria with a strong method of preventing valuable oil theft and greatly reduce the environmental impact from spilt oil.

Doosan Case Study

Doosan Group is a South Korean conglomerate company. The business operates across many sectors, which includes power plants, engines, construction equipment and machine tools. Employing 43,000 people, Doosan Group is a Fortune 500 company.

Key Fact

Added advantage of fast and easy implementation of new software features

Testimonials

“This new system caters for the easy addition or removal of functionality from the system”

Understand

The Multi Fuel Burner Test Facility (MBTF) in Glasgow, Scotland, is used to test different coal furnace technologies in addition to being capable of testing numerous different types of coal fuel. The plant control system was originally implemented using National Instruments (NI) FieldPoint hardware, and NI Lookout software. Due to global environmental pressures, there is now a requirement to test numerous different ‘clean burn’ technologies and fuels. TBG has implemented a major upgrade to the MBTF software, replacing the existing Lookout code with a more powerful LabVIEW™ system. This new system caters for the easy addition or removal of functionality from the system as may be required by the various burn technologies under test.

Engineer

The plant comprises more than 450 data channels used for data acquisition and control. Plant control, data analysis and trending are performed by three different PCs: a master PC controls the plant’s hardware, and two remote PCs are used to view the data from all sensors within the plant, producing historical trends and data logs, which are required by the owner of the technology under test and also the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA).

Using the original system as software specification, all of the necessary objects, logic and functionality in Lookout were redesigned using LabVIEW, ensuring the new software mimics the look and feel of the original Lookout system. The system is divided into nine sections such as water cooling, furnace ignition or coal transport, allowing the operator to easily switch between each of the different screens.

The main design challenge was to determine the functionality of the original system through analysis of the existing Lookout code. It emerged that understanding the code alone was not sufficient to ensure that the LabVIEW system would operate correctly. As a result it was necessary to obtain a thorough understanding of the mechanics of the system through the study of existing flowcharts, wiring diagrams and hardware schematics. This had the added benefit of allowing us to be more capable at finding faults during the commissioning of the system.

Deliver

Doosan Babcock now use a system that has the same functionality, look and feel as its original Lookout system. It does, however, have the added advantage of fast and easy implementation of new software features that reflect any necessary hardware changes required to the furnace architecture to test future coal burning technologies.

Alstom Case Study

Close to 25% of the world’s power production capacity depends on Alstom technology and services. Its clean technologies generate electricity equivalent to the needs of around 1.2 billion homes.

Key Fact

Due to the extreme dangers inherent with testing equipment at such high power, operator safety was of utmost importance

Testimonials

“A viable high throughput, safe and reliable test system for a very demanding and high-tech requirement.”

Understand

The Challenge

To provide a bespoke automated production test facility for Voltage Source Converters (VSC) and safely exercising the devices up to their operating limits of 2.5kV and 2000A. A Voltage Source Converter is a device which can be used to convert a direct current voltage into alternating current voltage.

The Solution

Developing a LabVIEW/TestStand PXI based system providing full automated production test of UUTs, whilst maintaining strict safety practices and procedures safeguarding both product and operators.

Introduction

As a National Instruments UK Gold Alliance member, specialising in using NI products to provide control, test and automation, TBG Solutions were invited by a high profile power generation and transmission company to provide a solution for their test requirement for their VSC sub-modules. The testing required the system to charge the products in pairs to in excess of 2kV, and then exercise their ability to generate AC when grouped, at over 2.5kV and 1800A peak whilst maintaining control and safety through monitoring of the product and the environmental conditions.

Engineer

Cell Design

Due to the extreme dangers inherent in the testing of these devices, the safety features of the test cell were foremost in the design. The safety features were based around operator exclusion from the cell during operation with hardware interlocks on doors which cut cell supply voltages, automatic VSC discharge paths on cell entry to protect against errant charge and stringent operating procedures for cell entry and loading. This can be seen in Figure 1.

The test cell can be broken down into six major parts;

1.      Operators console- This housed the control PC and interface and primary interlock key control.

2.      Test Cell- This is the walled exclusion zone that prevented contact with hazards through the use of 8 foot walls, flash proof filtered windows and an interlocked door.

3.      48U 19” power rack- This contained 2 MPE TS Series 4 3KV DC power supplies.

4.      48U 19” control rack- This housed the PXI chassis with associated signal conditioning and switching and communications interfaces for control and measurement.

This included;

a.      PXI-1044 14 slot chassis.

b.      PXI-PCI 8336 MXI-4 link.

c.      PXI-8231 Gigabit Ethernet Interface.

d.      PXI-8432/2 RS232 Interface.

e.      PXI-4071 6.5 Digit DMM

f.       PXI-5105 60MS/s 12 Bit 8 Channel Digitiser/Oscilloscope 128mb

g.      PXI-6514 Industrial IO Card

h.      PXI-2571 66 Channel, 1A SPDT Relay Module

i.        PXI-6224 M-Series Multifunction DAQ Card.

5.      UUT interface- This was a freestanding structure which housed the pneumatics, cooling interface, bus bars and high voltage switching. The UUTs also plugged into this.

6.      Cooling plant– This had a temperature controlled closed loop water cooling system that used deionised water.

The Test cell can be seen in figure 2

Production Test System
Figure 1-Test Cell Enclosure
Test Cell
Figure 2-Test Cell
Test Cell with UUTS
Figure 3-Test Cell with UUTS

The system has two test bays; one for each UUT. The UUTs are brought into the system on trolleys as seen in Figure 3.

The UUTs are connected to the test cell via hydraulics once all operators vacate the test area and the doors are closed. Once the UUT Interface is connected, the tests can begin.

National Instruments Components-Hardware

One of the key safety concerns was a conductive path between the operator and the UUT. Thanks to NI this was easily overcome by using their fibre optic Ethernet link between the PXI chassis and the PC. This gave the added benefit that the PXI chassis did not require a controller, making the integrated cards appear as part of the PCI backplane. Another key feature of the NI hardware that accelerated development were the soft front panels, which shipped with the hardware and allowed direct control over instruments out of the box. This allowed commissioning of the very complex hardware independent of TestStand, giving us confidence in the test cell before we ran the automated test sequences.

National Instruments Components – Software

The software architecture was made up of several interfaces and engines which worked interactively to create a simple unified interface. This allowed an operator to automatically control a large and complex system. This particular system included complex control, data acquisition, cooling, critical safety monitoring and complex test and was also able to provide detailed debug and manual control capabilities. This can be seen in Figure 4.

The primary interface is a modified version of the shipped TestStand Operator Interface as seen in Figure 5 .

The interface is used by the Operators to run the test sequences and gives them live feedback on the status and progress of the UUTs. Another key modification to the interface was the ability to terminate a sequence in accordance with the safe practices required, when dealing with a high power system.

The second interface is the UUT Communications and Control interface.

The VSC constantly streams a status message over RS232. This is then processed by the interface into a usable format and made available to the TestStand sequences using a shared variable library. Commands are also sent to the VSM via this interface. During testing this runs in the background and requires no user interaction, but was very useful during commissioning and debug.

The third and final interface as seen by the operator is the Data Acquisition and Control Interface.

The Data Acquisition and Control Interface acts as an engine for the continuous data acquisition from the AI and DIO that required constant monitoring. It also included the software that controlled and monitored the cooling plant.

Figure 4. Software diagram to demonstrate the architecture of the software components and how they interacted within the system
Figure 4. Software diagram to demonstrate the architecture of the software components and how they interacted within the system
Figure 5. TestStand Operator Interface
Figure 5. TestStand Operator Interface

Deliver

Conclusion

TBG Solutions provided a high throughput, safe and reliable test system for a very demanding and high-tech requirement. The soft front panel tools, hardware abstraction layer and easy integration of a variety of instruments allowed rapid development and verification.

University Of Southampton Case Study

Renowned for its award-winning research projects in science, technology and engineering, The University Of Southampton is a world-famous research facility.

Key Fact

Adaptive algorithms enabled the system to be robust and capable of reducing multiple and varying noise frequencies.

Testimonials

“Implemented on embedded system technology providing a state of the art, highly reliable, compact and adaptable system.”

Understand

The TranQuil project is a collaboration with Princess Yachts, The University of Southampton and TBG Solutions. Princess Yachts, designers and manufacturers of motor yachts, are regarded as the finest exponent of contemporary yacht design. The project was aimed at the luxury yacht market. Yachts often use a secondary generator to provide power whilst the yacht is stationary, however, this generates considerable noise and vibration, which can upset passengers during silent hours.

The challenge was to develop a scalable and frequency adaptable solution that nullified generator noise and reduced vibration thus providing maximum comfort to passengers.

Engineer

The proposed system was a set of actuators that sit beneath the generator moving in anti-phase and amplitude to the generator, thus eradicating noise and vibration. This presented additional challenges as the system needed to be reactive to multiple points of contact and react in real time (microseconds) to vibrations in order to be effective.

Adaptive algorithms enabled the system to be robust and capable of reducing multiple and varying noise frequencies.

Deliver

TBG Solutions achieved active noise cancellation by implementing a Least Mean Square (LMS) algorithm.

The system successfully reduces cabin nose by 10dB providing passengers with a highly reliable, compact and state of the art system to ensure maximum comfort. This system can be built-in to new boats, retrofitted to existing boats and applied in other industries where noise and vibration cancellation is required, such as in coaches and buildings.

Nuvia Case Study

The system consisted of almost 40 strain bridge circuits deployed across the system. TBG Solutions produced a distributed system which allowed the operators of a nuclear waste fuel processing prototype

Key Fact

The system consisted of almost 40 strain bridge circuits deployed across the system

Testimonials

“TBG Solutions produced a distributed system which allowed the operators of a nuclear waste fuel processing prototype to monitor and record impacts during trials.”

Understand

Nuvia is an international nuclear engineering, project management and services contractor. The brief was to engineer a monitoring system that would record and model impact data on a fuel processing prototype.

Engineer

The system consisted of almost 40 strain bridge circuits deployed across the system and routed back to 3 field boxes to relay information back to the operator.

Due to the nature of the project, signals were prone to fluctuations and in order to protect the operator and provide the most accurate readings, these signals needed to be signal conditioned before being relayed to the central PC.

Deliver

The system was successful in retrieving diagnostic information on the fuel processing prototype, with the array of sensors serving to provide a detailed analysis of part strain. These results were then analysed by the system to provide 3D readouts of the parts to show where strain was being exerted after being compared to a threshold level.

GE Energy Case Study

GE Energy provides a broad array of power generation, energy delivery, and water process technologies to solve global challenges. The Power & Water division works in several areas of the energy industry, including wind and solar, biogas, and alternative fuels.

Key Fact

The system of sensors needed to be highly adaptable and configurable in order that multiple systems could be tested

Testimonials

“TBG Solutions delivered a reconfigurable, expandable and synchronised data logging network for full scale tidal turbine power train testing.”

Understand

GE Energy is an industry leader in the R&D of renewable energy. The brief was to provide a data acquisition system to connect multiple sensors to a central server in order to monitor and control the test parameters of its marine turbines research facility.

Engineer

Marine turbine nacelles would be placed into the system and seafloor current environments would be simulated in order to test both the efficiency and performance of the generators.

The system of sensors needed to be highly adaptable and configurable in order that multiple systems could be tested.

Due to the nature of the project there would be a lot of electrical noise, limiting the distance that data could be transmitted. This posed a problem since operations needed to be logged at high accuracy and in real time.

Deliver

The final system offered a high degree of flexibility being built on top of the National Instruments LabVIEW™ platform, with the set up being designed to use a generic code system. This made the system easily expandable with plug and play simplicity and allowed for minimal changes to be made to the system’s architecture once sensors had been fitted to the nacelles.

Real-time data is channelled and gathered in a central server which forwards the data to the operator. Being controlled by independent GPS timing systems meant that data could be gathered and seen in sync in real time, ready for analysis and logging.

The facility is now ready to test manufacturer’s latest designs in real time with an unparalleled level of accuracy and simplicity.

Drillpipe Inspection System Case Study

GE Energy provides a broad array of power generation, energy delivery, and water process technologies to solve global challenges. The Power & Water division works in several areas of the energy industry, including wind and solar, biogas, and alternative fuels.

Key Fact

The system of sensors needed to be highly adaptable and configurable in order that multiple systems could be tested

Testimonials

TBG Solutions delivered a reconfigurable, expandable and synchronised data logging network for full scale tidal turbine power train testing.

Understand

The Challenge

Creating a hardware and software test solution to allow full control of specialised Drillpipe inspection units.

The Solution

Using NI LabVIEW, a cDAQ-9174 Chassis with 1 x NI 9239 and 2 x NI 9403 modules, a customised TBG PCB and wiring harness allowed for full control of the hardware interface (Figure 3). This enabled the client to perform, monitor and record a number of tests including transverse flaw detection and wall loss detection.

Introduction

Drill pipe inspection is an important process that helps to maintain the safety and reliability of piping operations. Our customer are continuously looking for ways in which they can improve their products. Upon identifying the need for a new system, they developed a hardware interface which encapsulated two inspection capabilities. However, they needed an underlying software & hardware solution to truly improve the inspection process. They chose TBG Solutions to challenge the issue.

Engineer

System Overview

The system consists of a hardware interface with various physical switches and knobs which connects to the TBG PCB housing via various inputs and outputs. This included potentiometer outputs and alarm signals. The PCB I/O is controlled via the NI 9403 module in the cDAQ-9174 chassis which then connects to the PCB. The hardware interface also connects to the NI 9239 module which provides an input for the transducers. The cDAQ-9174 is connected to the control PC which enables the system to continuously send and receive data. Figure 1 is a graph outlining the physical connections between the described components.

The software was developed in LabVIEW and uses various tools which are explained later in the case study. The software receives data from the coil transducers and the Hall Effect sensor and plots it onto graphs located on the main interface. Furthermore, the front panel controls provide an interface for controlling the physical components seen in Figure 2.

Figure 1 - System Overview
Figure 1 - System Overview
Figure 2 - Hardware interface for the T2002 inspection unit
Figure 2 - Hardware interface for the T2002 inspection unit

Implementation

We designed the software to continuously receive data from the analogue inputs whilst offering the ability to manage the inspection unit through various digital and analogue outputs – all from a centralised location.

We used LabVIEW’s Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) architecture as this was an ideal tool to encapsulate each I/O type and create additional instances that could be dynamically dispatched inside the code. Using the OOP architecture increased the ease of development allowing us to produce simulation classes. This provided an I/O testing platform (Figure 4) for validating functionality throughout the development process and also allowed us to highlight any bugs that had been introduced. Due to the nature of the project, it was not viable for TBG to have access to the inspection hardware. By implementing the simulation classes, we were able to produce and test the software off-site, lowering the development costs and resolving any issues without having to involve the client.

Another invaluable tool that LabVIEW OOP offers is a graphical class hierarchy view (Figure 5) which enabled us to easily develop a Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL). This greatly benefited the solution and allowed us to program the software in a way that would match the modularity of the NI hardware setup. This allowed us to accommodate potential software and hardware changes as new child classes, modifying the functionality without having to explicitly change the overall software.

Figure 5 - LabVIEW Class Hierarchy
Figure 3 - Simplified software structure
Figure 3 - Simplified software structure
Figure 4 - I/O Testing Platform
Figure 4 - I/O Testing Platform

Operator PC Interface

We used a number of LabVIEW front panel elements to achieve the full functionality required by the client. LabVIEW’s front panel tools allowed for the complex interface to be organised quickly and professionally while not compromising the ease of use. The front panel was divided using a tab control, allowing the user to quickly switch between screens of neatly organised controls and indicators. Furthermore, the ability to customise controls made the program more intuitive and straight-forward in use as each button was personalised with a unique icon.

Figure 7 - Settings interface
Figure 7 - Settings interface
Figure 6 - Main interface

Deliver

Producing this solution required both hardware and software capable of interfacing with a number of inspection units. Using NI LabVIEW, a cDAQ-9174 Chassis with 1 x NI 9239 and 2 x NI 9403 modules and a customised TBG PCB and wiring harness, TBG were able to create a flexible and expandable solution capable of accommodating future changes in our customers requirements. Our solution enabled the monitoring of drill pipes, identifying defects before failure and possible damage.

Automated Test System for Functional and In-Circuit Testing Case Study

The automated test system we developed for functional test and in-circuit testing allows testing for multiple product ranges and is easily scalable for future expansion requirements.

Key Fact

New products can be supported by designing additional interchangeable test adaptors (ITA) which can be easily fitted to the system

PCB Test

Testimonials

“TBG Solutions delivered a functional test system that is effective and easily expandable.”

Understand

TBG Solutions have produced a PXI based generic automated test system performing both functional test and in-circuit testing on multiple products ranges.

The system leverages the MacPanel scout interface to provide a reconfigurable base platform from which the system can easily and quickly adapted in order to test a wide range of products. The system comprises enough hardware to support most test functions and can be expanded to support additional hardware where required.

The software architecture is modular and comprises elements common to all product test applications such as user management, calibration and diagnostics. The software is expanded to facilitate product specific testing by implementing custom TestStand sequences. New products can be supported by designing additional interchangeable test adaptors (ITA) which can be easily fitted to the system. New software sequences can be written specifically for each ITA expanding the functionality of the system.

Engineer

Design Challenges

The challenge was to design a versatile PXI based system incorporating a mixed suite of measurement hardware that can be re-configured and re-used for testing multiple product types using a commaon base platform. A product specific Interchangeable test adaptor is attached to the base system to provide the signal routing and configuration applicable to the tests required for that specific product.

Due to the nature of the project there would be a lot of electrical noise, limiting the distance that data could be transmitted. This posed a problem since operations needed to be logged at high accuracy and in real time.

System Design

National Instruments PXI measurement hardware provides the basis for the Generic Manufacturing Defect Inspection Automated Test Equipment (GMDI-ATE) which is further augmented using Excelsys Xgen™ range power supplies. The system is mounted in a standard 19” rack enclosure and incorporates a MacPanel Scout interface for configuring the system for different applications.

NI-PXI hardware modules provide a large number of analogue and digital channels working in tandem with high density switch and relay matrixes. In addition, we include a high precision DMM, arbitrary function generator, fully reconfigurable FPGA, RS232/485 serial communications, CAN and JTAG boundary scan.

Deliver

The systems delivered to date have successfully managed to reduce the cost of ownership and lead times on providing new test capabilities whilst improving test performance, accuracy, traceability and throughput. TBG can augment your test capabilities by designing and producing an ITA in under eight weeks.

In-Circuit Test System

How We Automated High Voltage Production Test

GE Energy provides a broad array of power generation, energy delivery, and water process technologies to solve global challenges. The Power & Water division works in several areas of the energy industry, including wind and solar, biogas, and alternative fuels.

Key Fact

The system of sensors needed to be highly adaptable and configurable in order that multiple systems could be tested

Testimonials

“TBG Solutions delivered a reconfigurable, expandable and synchronised data logging network for full scale tidal turbine power train testing.”

Understand

The Challenge

To provide a bespoke automated production test facility for Voltage Source Converters (VSC) and safely exercising the devices up to their operating limits of 2.5kV and 2000A. A Voltage Source Converter is a device which can be used to convert a direct current voltage into alternating current voltage.

The Solution

Developing a LabVIEW/TestStand PXI based system providing full automated production test of UUTs, whilst maintaining strict safety practices and procedures safeguarding both product and operators.

Introduction

As a National Instruments UK Gold Alliance member, specialising in using NI products to provide control, test and automation, TBG Solutions were invited by a high profile power generation and transmission company to provide a solution for their test requirement for their VSC sub-modules. The testing required the system to charge the products in pairs to in excess of 2kV, and then exercise their ability to generate AC when grouped, at over 2.5kV and 1800A peak whilst maintaining control and safety through monitoring of the product and the environmental conditions.

Engineer

Cell Design

Due to the extreme dangers inherent in the testing of these devices, the safety features of the test cell were foremost in the design. The safety features were based around operator exclusion from the cell during operation with hardware interlocks on doors which cut cell supply voltages, automatic VSC discharge paths on cell entry to protect against errant charge and stringent operating procedures for cell entry and loading. This can be seen in Figure 1.

The test cell can be broken down into six major parts;

1.      Operators console- This housed the control PC and interface and primary interlock key control.

2.      Test Cell- This is the walled exclusion zone that prevented contact with hazards through the use of 8 foot walls, flash proof filtered windows and an interlocked door.

3.      48U 19” power rack- This contained 2 MPE TS Series 4 3KV DC power supplies.

4.      48U 19” control rack- This housed the PXI chassis with associated signal conditioning and switching and communications interfaces for control and measurement.

This included;

a.      PXI-1044 14 slot chassis.

b.      PXI-PCI 8336 MXI-4 link.

c.      PXI-8231 Gigabit Ethernet Interface.

d.      PXI-8432/2 RS232 Interface.

e.      PXI-4071 6.5 Digit DMM

f.       PXI-5105 60MS/s 12 Bit 8 Channel Digitiser/Oscilloscope 128mb

g.      PXI-6514 Industrial IO Card

h.      PXI-2571 66 Channel, 1A SPDT Relay Module

i.        PXI-6224 M-Series Multifunction DAQ Card.

5.      UUT interface- This was a freestanding structure which housed the pneumatics, cooling interface, bus bars and high voltage switching. The UUTs also plugged into this.

6.      Cooling plant– This had a temperature controlled closed loop water cooling system that used deionised water.

The Test cell can be seen in figure 2

Production Test System
Figure 1-Test Cell Enclosure
Test Cell
Figure 2-Test Cell
Test Cell with UUTS
Figure 3-Test Cell with UUTS

The system has two test bays; one for each UUT. The UUTs are brought into the system on trolleys as seen in Figure 3.

The UUTs are connected to the test cell via hydraulics once all operators vacate the test area and the doors are closed. Once the UUT Interface is connected, the tests can begin.

National Instruments Components-Hardware

One of the key safety concerns was a conductive path between the operator and the UUT. Thanks to NI this was easily overcome by using their fibre optic Ethernet link between the PXI chassis and the PC. This gave the added benefit that the PXI chassis did not require a controller, making the integrated cards appear as part of the PCI backplane. Another key feature of the NI hardware that accelerated development were the soft front panels, which shipped with the hardware and allowed direct control over instruments out of the box. This allowed commissioning of the very complex hardware independent of TestStand, giving us confidence in the test cell before we ran the automated test sequences.

National Instruments Components – Software

The software architecture was made up of several interfaces and engines which worked interactively to create a simple unified interface. This allowed an operator to automatically control a large and complex system. This particular system included complex control, data acquisition, cooling, critical safety monitoring and complex test and was also able to provide detailed debug and manual control capabilities. This can be seen in Figure 4.

The primary interface is a modified version of the shipped TestStand Operator Interface as seen in Figure 5 .

The interface is used by the Operators to run the test sequences and gives them live feedback on the status and progress of the UUTs. Another key modification to the interface was the ability to terminate a sequence in accordance with the safe practices required, when dealing with a high power system.

The second interface is the UUT Communications and Control interface as seen in Figure 6.

The VSC constantly streams a status message over RS232. This is then processed by the interface into a usable format and made available to the TestStand sequences using a shared variable library. Commands are also sent to the VSM via this interface. During testing this runs in the background and requires no user interaction, but was very useful during commissioning and debug.

The third and final interface as seen by the operator is the Data Acquisition and Control Interface as seen in Figure 7.

The Data Acquisition and Control Interface acts as an engine for the continuous data acquisition from the AI and DIO that required constant monitoring. It also included the software that controlled and monitored the cooling plant

Figure 4. Software diagram to demonstrate the architecture of the software components and how they interacted within the system
Figure 4. Software diagram to demonstrate the architecture of the software components and how they interacted within the system
Figure 5. TestStand Operator Interface
Figure 5. TestStand Operator Interface
Figure 6. UUT Communications and Control interface
Figure 6. UUT Communications and Control interface
Figure 7. Data Acquisition and Control Interface
Figure 7. Data Acquisition and Control Interface

Deliver

Conclusion

TBG Solutions provided a high throughput, safe and reliable test system for a very demanding and high-tech requirement. The soft front panel tools, hardware abstraction layer and easy integration of a variety of instruments allowed rapid development and verification.