Automatic Testbench – ATB

Automatic Test Bench—ATB

The ATB is a modular test system that serves as a tool for testing control units. It was developed by Areus together with an OEM from the automotive industry and is therefore optimally tailored to existing market requirements.

The ATB’s main area of application is vehicle telematics and diagnostics. Every development status of the individual control units and the combination of all control units must be put through its paces. There are defined error cases that must be repeatedly produced, detected and analyzed. We have developed a hardware and software solution for this, the so-called Automatic TestBench (ATB).

To ensure that a potential error is detected, this is already tested during the development phase. This involves consciously producing errors and checking whether they are recognized and saved. This and much more can be automated with the ATB.

The ATB’s hardware is highly modular due to the variety of signals and tests. The minimum unit is a so-called KIO card with an integrated microcontroller and an attached module called a “PiggyPack”. There are virtually no limits to complex expansion, so that several KIO cards and PiggyPacks can also be integrated into a 19″ rack as a complete system.

This modularity has several advantages:

Minimal space required
Hardware tailored precisely to requirements
Simple expandability
Reusability

Areus has the right PiggyPack for almost every test case. This means that a very wide range of tests can be covered. Some examples are:

Antenna tests (e.g. AM, FM, W-LAN, DAB,..)
Loudspeaker tests
Power supply test
Data transmission tests (USB)
Video tests (LVDS, possibly also HSVL)
Short-circuit tests to ground, power supply or other signals
Interruption tests, cable break (open load)
Load test of the control unit outputs via programmable resistor cascades
Control of external devices, e.g. voltage generators to emulate a start process or HF generators for antennas/tuner tests etc.

Self-monitoring:

Our system constantly monitors itself. To ensure that the test cases are actually produced, intelligent hardware and software checks the switching processes of the hardware. Simple, predefined commands can be combined into test plans in the software using drag & drop. This allows the test technician to concentrate on the actual testing.

Due to the modularity and ever-increasing complexity of the test environment, Areus supports its customers throughout the entire project phase, from the specification to the finished control unit connection cable. The requirements are analyzed and specified together with the customer and converted into a hardware concept using specially developed software. In this way, the specification is transformed into a real system at the touch of a button, which is delivered ready for connection and customized to the customer’s requirements.