Nx24x7: Challenges and Considerations When Designing a Life... by Katya Prince. GDevCon N.A. 2024

Nx24x7: Challenges and Considerations When Designing a Life Cycle Tester

In developing a product, it is critical to have an accurate understanding of the life expectancy, reliability and durability of the product or its subcomponents. In many industries (e.g., automotive, aerospace) there may even be quality standards that must be met before the product can be integrated into another system. One tool for gathering this information is a Life Cycle Tester.

A Life Cycle Tester is a system designed to repetitively exercise (physically or electrically) a product for days, weeks, or months – often to failure. The tester may be used to verify product life predictions or measure the reaction of the product to stressors (e.g., extreme temperatures, vibration). Data gathered by the test system may be analyzed to determine values like mean time to failure or early life failure rate. These results may then be used to qualify the product for production. In the event of a design or component change, the tester and its measurements can be used to determine the impact of the changes.

Due to the expected extended test times and large lot sizes often required, most Life Cycle Testers are designed to run multiple devices at the same time – often asynchronously.

With LabVIEW’s inherent parallelism, it is a great fit for the controlling of these systems.

This talk will cover two of the biggest challenges in designing a Life Cycle Tester: 24-7 continuous operation and multiple asynchronous device testing. It will cover high-level design considerations and include some practical tips, tricks and trip-ups when designing this type of system.



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