Testudo Engineering - Equipment Upgrade Example

UPGRADE EXISTING SYSTEMS

Testudo Engineering was contacted by a client company to upgrade several of their existing test consoles. These consoles were reaching obsolescence due to aging hardware and limitations in the software. This upgrade involved software and hardware upgrades as described below.

three smarts consoles

Shown above is the original test console on the right, with the upgraded console on the left. The newer console uses more reliable hardware with software designed for greater levels of automation for higher throughput with lower labor costs per production unit.

Software Upgrades

Increase the types of tests possible.
Add in a user log in system.
Improved data processing.
Increased flexibility in test programming.
Better archival of data.
System level software setup to allow the same software to be used in different test consoles with different hardware.
Update software drivers to work with newer generation data acquisition hardware.
Increase the level of automation by having more aspects of the test setup computer controlled.

Hardware Upgrades

Replace the existing desktop computer with a more robust, rack mounted computer.
Replace the older generation data acquisition hardware with a newer model.
Create a custom power supply circuit to provide a low power, high accuracy voltage source used in the clients tests. This allowed for the elimination of the less accurate, manually controlled power supply, resulting in less setup time and more accurate results.
Create a custom printed circuit board to simplify the wiring needed to transfer the signals from the UUT to the data acquisition hardware. This PCB was designed to reduce signal noise thereby allowing higher fidelity in the test results.