Future ot Test Development

Since I am a test developer I think a lot about how to make my own job easier. I believe National Instruments is on the right track in the future of test software with LabVIEW. Graphical is very much the way to go, especially for the Hardware guy forced to write software tests. It still has room for improvements especially with the amount of mousing that it requires. I have mild Carpel Tunnel Syndrome but when I use LabVIEW, it flares up and I have pain in my wrist. LabVIEW also easy to leave out a lot of the discipline really needed for software, things like clean code, readability, and documentation. But LabVIEW is still the way.

In the farther future, I believe that the development of hardware and software will be more coupled and much more automated. NI, again, is doing well on this. With NI-Scope, NI-DMM, and NI-Switch. When you get an NI-DMM card, any DMM card, and use NI-DMM to deal with it. All that really needs to be known is the basics of what DMM measurements need to be made. It's all drop in from there.

The more distance test development future should bring more automated and integrated development. I believe the Test Engineer will specify what signals, tolerances, and communications channels needed to be tested for each of the UUTs that are to be tested. A test development (TD) tool will select the best instruments for the job and layout the Interconnect panel (ICP) (The ICP is where all signals from all the instruments come out to the outside world) The Test Engineer would verify the instruments are right.

The TD tool would use the signal to be tested and instrument it chose to create an Integration Test Adapter (ITA) to self test the station. (ITA take the signal from the Instrument through the ICA and routes it to cables, switch cards, and other instruments). The wire lists for the ITA fabrication would come from the tool. From the ITA and wire lists the software for a test set self test would be generated.

Then the tool will take Save Nowthat ICA output and the UUT signal specs that we started with and would develop the ITA and wire list for each UUT test. Using the UUT wire lists and ITA a UUT self tests software and UUT test software would be generated.

The switch cards needed to route the signals for the Station Selftest and UUT tests would be added to the design.

Below is a simple flow I threw together.

This whole thing is conjecture on my part and very over simplified but, in general, seems doable. Overall, eventually, there will most likely be a lot more automation of layout and test.

Future of Test

At work, I've been dealing with innovation, future of test software, and even doing a little bit of real engineering work in my spare time.

With all this I keep wondering, what is the Future of test set? Of test software? How much will change before I retire? When can I retire (different topic)? Also, I was doing an install of some software and had some time to contemplate the future.

I know in the future the Engineers creed of "Smaller, Better, Faster" will be in effect. Also the concept of Cheaper is being pushed really hard. So what will happen in the future.

Smaller is easy. We've seen it happen for years in standards like VME going to VXI and to PXI as well as chassis like the compactRIO. With these different architectures we've also seen faster speeds. So in the next 10 years I'm sure there will be a sub-compactRIO or RIO-micro.

I'm pretty sure distributed systems will be more common. A system where there is a central control and information repository with connections to small "brick" testers that can be put just about anywhere, temperature chambers, remote less access able test area's. There will be wireless connections where possible so that even wires aren't needed. Some type of Ethernet (hardwire or wireless) will connect to the brick and the brick will control and communication with the units under test (UUT). All test results and operator interface will back at the central computer. The central computer will control several different tests at one time.

There will be more embedded test programs in the units under test (UUT), there will be less discrete interfaces. Since UUTs being tested are getting smaller (better faster) too, there will be less area for interfaces. Software expertise will be needed to develop Operational Test Programs (OTPs) to load into units to test them.

With distributed test systems and smaller test sets there will be more "soft" instrument front panels on the display screens and less physical instrument front panels. The soft instrument front panels on the screens would give an image of what the real instrument front panel would look like if it were real. They would control the various instruments manually when it's needed and would minimize when the device isn't being used. Touch screens would be great for this function so that the operator would still "touch" on the interface.

Of course, all this are just some possibilities for the future.