Automated Fuse Tester for Automotive

 

Automotive fuse tester.  An automotive fuse manufacture needed an end of line test to test fuses they were manufacturing.  The system needed to measure the resistance of each fuse and compare it to an entered value.  The system then needed to determine if the fuse was acceptable or faulty and save the results for the test.  The software needed to be easy to use and interface with different hardware components.

 

We partnered with MVB  to develop the tester.  MVB built the test fixture, and programed the PLC for machine operation.  We developed the custom LabVIEW software that was the user interface, and communicated with the measurement hardware.

 

The software needed to interface with a PLC via digital inputs and outputs, a Pickering PXI switch, and a Tegam Micro Ohm Meter.  Pickering’s 2-slot PXI/USB Chassis along with their High-Density PXI Multiplexer was used to route each fuse to the Tegam micro ohm meter.  This reduced cost because only 1 Tegam unit was needed for all the measurements. 

 

 

 

 

 

The custom LabVIEW software we developed monitored digital inputs from the PLC and interfaced with the Pickering switch and the Tegam micro ohm meter.  The digital inputs indicated what state the machine was in i.e. Waiting to load a part, Testing, etc.  When the part was ready to be tested the software switched the Pickering switch the the desired circuit and used the Tegam Ohm meter to measure the resistance of each fuse.  The software reported the measured resistance and compared the result to a minimum and maximum target value entered by the user.  The software then checked to see if all the fuses were in an acceptable range and clearly indicated the result to the user.

 

 

The recipe dialog allowed the user to set the number of fuses in the fixture and the minimum and maximum resistance values for each tested fuse.  The dialog allowed the user to save and load multiple recipe files for different part configurations.

 

 

The settings dialog allows the user to set program settings.  Examples of settings are report file path, and hardware settings.  This is an example of the digital input settings.  The user can specify the hardware card address, the digital input channel names, and the channel address.

 

 

The data acquired from the test was automatically saved as a .csv file (Comma separated value).  This allowed the data to be viewed in any data analysis tool i.e. Microsoft Excel.  The data saved was used for quality control and part traceability.

 

 

The Automated Fuse tester allowed the customer to quickly and accurately test the fuses they were manufacturing.  The ability to quickly measure the resistance of each fuse and interface with the different hardware greatly improved the manufacturing throughput and the quality of the product.  The data the software generated was used for quality control and traceability.

 

• Learn about our project process
• Learn about LabVIEW
• Learn about Instrument Control
• Learn about Switching
  
• Learn about other test systems we have developed