Endurance Testing using NI PXI
An automated system permits faster validation, unattended test, an increase in throughput, and can free up resources for other tasks during the weeks long endurance test.
Client – A manufacturer of aircraft components in the mil-aero industry
Challenge
New product development drove the need for a new aerospace endurance test system for product validation. The old systems were not designed to test the newly designed part (aircraft actuators), and the company didn’t have the time or resources to reconfigure existing systems to perform the testing required.
Solution
The new PXI-based endurance test system provides automated electromechanical testing, full data recording, report generation and a diagnostic panel for intelligent debug. Viewpoint selected the NI equipment, while the test consoles, and other components were selected and fabricated by the customer.
Benefits
- This automated aerospace test system permits faster validation, unattended test, an increase in throughput, and can free up resources for other tasks during the weeks long endurance test.
- Full data recording with a data viewer enables post analysis, which provides the ability to review and analyze raw signals captured during execution. Channel examples are actuator LVDT position, load, current, and encoder actuator position.
- Summary report capability allows the customer to document the amount of testing completed against the full endurance test schedules.
- A manual diagnostic operational panel provides the ability to verify particular DUT functionality or components without running an entire schedule.
- Systems can be paused and restarted to allow for “scheduled maintenance” of the DUT such as inspections, lubrication, etc.
System Overview
The PXI-based aerospace endurance test system enables data collection, deterministic PID Loop Control, emergency shutdown and a diagnostic panel for manual test and debug operation. The system runs endurance test schedules, that are defined as a recipe for test execution. These schedules, which are customer-defined and DUT-specific, are designed to simulate the actual conditions the DUT would see in real world application as closely as possible. LabVIEW-RT was used for the deterministic looping for Closed Loop Control of Actuator Position and Load Control. LVDT demodulation was performed on a PXI FPGA card programmed with LabVIEW FPGA.
| SOFTWARE FUNCTIONS |
|---|
| GUI |
| Summary Reports |
| Full Data Collection for Real-Time and Post Analysis |
| Deterministic PID Loop Control |
| E-Stop Management |
| Diagnostics Panel for Manual Test and Debug |
| Endurance Test Schedule Execution |
| Hydraulic Control Panel for Source & Load PSI Control |
| HARDWARE USED |
|---|
| PXI |
| Various PXI-based Data Acquisition Cards |
| PXI RT Controller |
| PXI FPGA Card |
| INTERFACES / PROTOCOLS |
|---|
| TCP/IP |