Proligent - The Next Generation Test Platform

Available success stories :

	Decoma
	Harris
	Optovia
	Honeywell Aerospace

Using Proligent to perform Design Validation Testing

"Averna provided a fully integrated ATE solution for our train door testing. This solution has been excellent and very successful in increasing our test productivity, quality of repeatable results and data integrity. Use of Proligent as a high-level test organization and supervision software has made our test management very simple and effective while providing us with great visibility of traceable test results."

Noël Comtois, Electrical Engineer Manager, Curtis Door System

Overview
Decoma enjoys a fast payback by streamlining the processes used to manage its high mix test environment, by improving how quality standard are enforced and by providing process feedback through SPC and automatic report generation possibilities of Proligent.

The context
Decoma International, a Magna subsidiary, designs, engineers and manufactures automotive exterior components and systems which include lighting components for cars and light trucks. Decoma needed to implement design validation testing for their automotive lamp manufacturing facility. A large variety of products is manufactured and a proliferate number of design validation plans are dictated by customers. Therefore a highly dynamic but yet rigorously traceable test execution and quality control system was needed. Typically the validation testing requires power cycling the cavities (individual bulbs) in an automotive lamp assembly in operational conditions generated and controlled by environment chambers.

At Decoma, a corporate wide team is involved in design validation efforts. From design engineers, quality control personal, test resources and photometric engineers all contribute in validation phases. These resources define the batch and test plans, execute testing and approve products performance through distributed work locations.

Validation testing requires controlling environment chambers, power supplies and high current switches from different vendors. Various interface standards (RS232, 4-20mA, Digital I/O) are needed to use hardware resources in numerous patterns with flexibility and customer specified fashion. Test durations extend over weeks and a stable, reliable and unattended test system is required. Test plans, execution run time information and results are needed to be stored in a central correlated database with multiple access windows and views required by different users to specify test steps and to use results in report generation.

Defining and performing design validation processes using Proligent
Proligent is used to create and maintain test plans associated with design validation. Proligent allows creating a test plan and associating it with a product model and a batch of serial numbers. The test plan creation involves specifying test steps and unit routing along with chamber profiles and power cycling information. The test plan information is all stored electronically in database and disk resident batch files.

During validation testing the batch execution information is processed by a LabVIEW
application executing on a desktop. As a product’s serial number is scanned at a test
station, its test plan and past history is fetched from the database. Operator is allowed to
dynamically select the hardware resources and configure the system for next test step.
Once the test is started, the application controls the hardware using NI FieldPoint and ENET modules. Serial communication through remote ENET module is used to program and monitor environment chamber profiles. As the desired chamber conditions are reached, FieldPoint 4-20 mA output is used to set the voltage on high current power supplies. FieldPoint digital output channels are used to multiplex the voltage to different lamp cavities and to power cycle the lamp periodically.

Real-time indications on test activity are provided to operator and the application auto
terminates the test as its target duration is reached while storing all execution information
to database.
Once photometric measurements and other acceptance results are obtained for a given
batch of serial numbers, these are entered in database using Proligent. The system
therefore provides complete test process integration and makes all the execution and
result data available for post-test comments, statistical process control and report
generation.

Conclusion
A design validation laboratory requiring challenging instrumentation control and process
management needs was successfully integrated using Proligent and National Instruments hardware and software, deployed on commercial desktops. The networked and distributed nature of Proligent provides a deep and realistic process mapping and enterprise wide integration of resources working on product testing. The tedious process of maintaining a high mix test environment and enforcement of quality standard was greatly streamlined and combined with a highly flexible and reliable control and monitoring application.
Extensive and powerful, application and user interface development capabilities of
LabVIEW along with tight hardware-software integration, remarkably facilitated the
implementation of this end-to-end solution. The effort resulted in a five figure saving as
compared to other alternatives and provided a return on investment of less than a year to
our customer. Not only that the system has been successfully running, it has
automatically brought in availability of test data, conventionally buried in paper
logbooks. This valuable test data can now be fully exploited to provide process feedback through SPC and automatic report generation possibilities of Proligent.

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