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Fabric testing has progressed from subjective hand evaluation to very sophisticated instrumental techniques. Examines past developments and suggests some future directions in this area. Reports research work being pursued by the present authors in developing automated test systems.

Examines how the personal computer has brought about dramatic changes in automatic test equipment [ATE] in electronics manufacturing. Describes the three major instrumentation types used in ATE today, the GPIB [general purpose interface bus] the VXI [VME eXtensions for instrumentation] and DAQ [data acquisition cards]. Looks at instrument drivers which provide the programmer with an interactive front panel enabling them to manipulate the instruments using a PC mouse and keyboard. Also looks at test executive software and the three main tasks it performs of test flow control, data logging and user interfacing. Concludes that in the ever changing world of ATE, virtual instrumentation is opening the system architecture of ATE and driving costs down by capitalizing on the power and low cost of the PC.

Reports on the opening, in May 1995, of North West Water’s new water testing laboratory in Warrington. It is the first automated laboratory in the world, with 85 per cent of the company’s water tests involving the use of robots and providing 24 hrs a day, 365 days a year production line testing. Uses standard industrial systems and robots and which have been customized to carry out more than 60 water sampling tests. Outlines the sampling procedure from collection through analysis to storage of the test results on a central computer.

Electronic sub‐assemblies are now a common feature of many products. The final output of production in areas such as computers, consumer goods, instrumentation and telecommunications equipment contain one or more electronic sub‐assemblies. Electronic sub‐assemblies are complex components built from smaller components such as Integrated Circuits (ICs) assembled on to Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs). Testing is an important but non‐productive part of the process of electronic sub‐assembly. However, it is a means of cost avoidance and ultimately a requirement for staying in business.

Testing has become one of the dominant costs in the process of bringing a product from initial conception to the market place. Because of this, it is now imperative that the impact of any technology change on the test process is considered at an early stage. In this light, the increasing trend towards the use of surface‐mounting techniques in the fabrication of electronic systems is examined, with particular emphasis on the consequences on product testing during design validation, manufacture and repair. The aim is to highlight areas in which new attitudes and replacements for traditional solutions will be needed if surface‐mounting techniques are to be as cost‐effective as possible.

THE DC‐10 era is effecting subtle changes in the maintenance procedures. The basic objectives of maintaining safe equipment at a reasonable cost have not changed. The means of achieving the objectives are changing. Digital equipment, which has so much to offer in terms of reliability, capability, and cost, will require a new degree of sophistication on the part of maintenance people and equipment. Digital circuits operate on the basis of information transfer at a high cyclic rate. The control of this data transfer is the function of special purpose digital computers. Although the computer has cither serial or parallel arithmetic organisation, the output information is in a serial digital format at a reasonably high output rate. These system characteristics have resulted in maintenance people requiring a new type of electronics knowledge — the ability to work with digital logic diagrams, computer organisation and computer programs. The performance data cannot be readily evaluated by voltage measurements or analog traces on an XY recorder as has been accomplished in the past. At the same time that the equipment is becoming more difficult to understand and test, manual testing is becoming more lengthy and, in some respects, tedious because of the digital mechanisation of the functions. Airlines will not be able to afford to use their skilled maintenance technicians for routine tasks. They will be better utilised for troubleshooting problems. As a result, the relatively unsophisticated test benches of the past are becoming obsolete and are being replaced by either sophisticated manual test equipment or sophisticated automatic test equipment.

Explores a PC‐based multi‐function virtual test and measurement system for automated manufacturing lines. The system includes single and dual channel oscilloscopes, a 50MHz spectrum analyzer, a multifunctional digital voltmeter and a 20MHz digital frequency meter. Outlines the benefits of the system including the availability of high‐performance instruments anywhere there is a PC cost saving and space saving. It also has considerable potential training test and maintenance personnel.

Many people feel the automated guided vehicle business is about to take off in the way that robotics did some years ago. John Mortimer reports

Litton Systems Canada Ltd, has announced that it has received a $3.7 million dollar contract to supply an automated test system and related test software programs to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The test system, designated ELATS for ‘Expanded Litton Automated Test Set’, will be used to automatically test and diagnose faults in electronic systems on board the new RAAF f/A‐18 fighter/aircraft.

Embedded systems are at the heart of most electronic devices and machines. Embedded systems are added to other products to make those products “smarter”, easier to use, or to add unique features. These systems are generally encoded with permanent instructions that cannot be easily changed, if at all. Problems can arise in embedded systems dealing with the representation of dates before, during, and after the year 2000. As a result, equipment or products that include embedded systems may malfunction, cause data to be corrupted, or stop working entirely. This paper defines a process that an organization would be able to utilize to find embedded systems, verify if they are Year 2000 compliant, and remediate if necessary