David R. Carey

Modernizing legacy Automated Test Systems for DoD depots

Department of defense (DoD) maintenance depots face a growing challenge regarding legacy Automated Test Systems (ATS). These systems, which are critical to ensuring mission success, are increasingly difficult to maintain and repair as well as being costly to modernize or replace. According to the General Accounting Office, the DoD has estimated that they will spend billions of dollars to modernize their ATS inventory, much of which was acquired in the 1970s and 1980s [1]. One of the maintenance depots is Tobyhanna Army Depot (TYAD) and is in a similar situation with it legacy test systems. The aging testers at TYAD are becoming increasingly out of date and more difficult to support. When the testers do not work properly, maintenance can suffer and readiness can be adversely affected. This paper reviews the requirements and issues associated with depot ATS equipment and will present a technical strategy for the modernization of ATS at TYAD.

Improving functional/diagnostic testing using model-based reasoning

The most difficult and time-consuming portion of test program development is the diagnostic element. Because of this difficulty, diagnostics are often foregone in the production/maintenance test environment This results in a rework pile of test items that usually become scrapped because manual troubleshooting is too labor-intensive and available technician time is too scarce. A solution to this dilemma is to implement diagnostics in the production/maintenance test environment using a simplified approach: model-based diagnostic reasoning. This paper will describe how to use model-based diagnostics to uncouple the diagnostic logic from the test logic. It will describe how design and test data can be merged to form a Diagnostic Knowledge Base (DKB) The Diagnostician, a commercial off the shelf (COTS) software tool, works with the DKB as part of the test program. The Diagnostician provides the model-based reasoning at runtime. This will allow the unit under test (UUT) design changes to be easily implemented into the diagnostic test program without extensive software changes. By having a different DKB for each revision level, diagnostics can be performed by keying on the revision of the UUT with the same test program.

A methodology for enhancing legacy TPS/ATS sustainability via employing Synthetic Instrumentation technology

This paper presents a methodology for mitigating Test Program Set (TPS) & Automatic Test System (ATS) obsolescence and enhancing TPS/ATS sustainability via employing Synthetic Instrumentation (SI) technology. The methodology and the associated sub- processes described within this paper represent a major paradigm shift in current support equipment hardware & software sustainability approaches and will have a profound impact on the process of supporting and maintaining legacy automated test systems (ATS) and TPSs now and into the future. The subject methodology was validated employing the Tobyhanna Army Depot (TYAD) RF Test Platform as the demonstration vehicle test bed. The proof-of-concept demonstration validated the concept of emulating and replacing several legacy Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) instruments with synthetic instrument technology. The primary goals of validating this technology paradigm were to provide an environment that would reduce TPS rework costs, decrease ATS maintenance and repair costs, and enhance the sustainability of legacy ATSs/TPSs going forward. During the course of this project the synthetic instrument technology insertion paradigm was demonstrated to the at-large DOD maintenance community.

Enhancing the diagnostic process for legacy test program sets using fault modeling and dynamic reasoning

Paper not available at time of Publication

Tobyhanna army depot automated test system modernization

During the last four decades the number of Automated Test Systems (ATS) has experienced tremendous growth at Tobyhanna Army Depot (TYAD). This is characterized in the proliferation through Base Realignment and Closure acquisition and in-house development of a wide variety of general and special purpose ATS — to date there are 94 unique ATS and a total of 230 ATS. With advancing technology and increasingly complex electronic systems, unique ATS has become a problem of maintenance test strategies at the depot; given the high costs of modernizing or replacing ATS and its potential effect on meeting mission success requirements. The aging testers at TYAD are becoming increasingly out of date and more difficult to support. When the testers do not work properly, maintenance can suffer and mission readiness can be adversely affected. This paper will analyze the problem and present a plan for modernization of ATS at TYAD that satisfies Army Regulation, AR750–43, and DOD ATS acquisition policy.

A new breed of smart depot testers using COTS technology

The most difficult and time consuming portion of depot repair is the diagnostic element (fault isolation). The writing of troubleshooting procedures and/or diagnostic flow charts and programs for automatic test equipment is an extremely labor intensive and expensive process. As a result of these high costs, the depot service environment is characterized by unique testers with specialized test programs usually written by the product designer staff. This has led to many depots for different products in countries all over the world which are inefficient to operate and do not produce the potential profitability dictated by this huge marketplace. Major advances in technology have opened up this market to enterprising high technology companies. This paper defines that opportunity, the technologies which make it possible, and a specific COTS approach to depot tester design.

Inhibiting factors in design for testability higher education

Many engineering students are not graduating with the necessary knowledge or experience in design for testability (DFT), automatic test equipment (ATE), or diagnostics in order to work in these fields. They typically do not demonstrate a consistent understanding of integrated diagnostics, or have an appreciation of the need. These same “fresh out” engineers will ultimately derive the low-level requirements for developing diagnostic systems, and this lack of knowledge of testing environments will have a significant impact. Failure to adequately address the integrated diagnostics and testing needs of a system greatly impacts its supportability and, consequently, the cost of that system throughout its life cycle. Integrated diagnostics is a career field for which there currently exists no standard set of basic qualifications, few educational opportunities to study at the university level, no clear processes within most organizations for practicing integrated diagnostics as a systems engineering activity, and no uniform method of sharing techniques and lessons learned with new employees. Studies have found that the majority of test engineer training is on-the-job, rather than knowledge acquired as part of a higher education degree program, or a formal training process [1]-[7]. As a result, it requires two to three years for any recent graduate to become competent in the field of test engineering. There are three main inhibiting factors to teaching design for testability as part of post-secondary education. The first factor is cost. The high cost, and quick obsolescence, of many ATE systems is a barrier to entry to any small- or medium-sized colleges engineering department budget. Even accounting for corporate donations, there are hidden costs, such as facilities and equipment maintenance, which make ATE prohibitively expensive. Moreover, in the United States, all engineering curricula must be accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). It is an arduous process, even for such well-worn topics as electrical engineering or mechanical engineering. A department chair is unlikely to risk the departments accreditation, or prolong the accreditation process, by including an exotic topic such as DFT or diagnostics. Finally, it is the goal of most institutions that their students will obtain employment upon graduation. To that end, curricula are often tailored to the demands of local employers. If surrounding industry is not asking for skilled diagnostic or DFT engineers, then there is no incentive for an engineering department to include it in a degree curriculum. This paper explores each of these factors in depth, and provides mitigations for overcoming the challenges that each presents.

Legacy test program sets migration using fault modeling and dynamic reasoning

The electronics industry and the Department of Defense (DoD), has thousands of obsolete legacy automated test systems (ATS). There are many systems, with different hardware and software architectures, that cannot be upgraded. The inability to reliably test products, diagnose faults, and collect historical data is having an effect on mission readiness. This paper describes a test and diagnostic system model that provides a means to use historical test and repair data from all levels of operation. The process reduces rework costs and decreases maintenance and repair costs through earlier and more accurate fault isolation. This work recoups the efforts of the original developer and captures test and diagnostic knowledge for the future. Consequently, the concept has been proposed for implementation within the Army ATS/TPS centers for use at the Army maintenance depots. Additional benefits from this work: development of a reliability database for system, subsystem, component by test type and ATS; tracking system reliability and mission performance data for use in developing requirements for new or upgrade system procurement specifications; and for pushing diagnostic knowledge and support from the sustainment level to the field and vice versa. The work presented will change the process of developing, maintaining and migrating diagnostic test now and into the future.

Army repair depot automated test system modernization

This paper analyzes the problem and presents a plan for modernization of ATS at the Army depots that satisfies Army Regulation, AR750-43, and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) ATS acquisition policy.

Tobyhanna army depot Automated Test System modernization

During the last four decades the number of Automated Test Systems (ATS) has experienced tremendous growth at Tobyhanna Army Depot (TYAD). This is characterized in the proliferation through Base Realignment and Closure acquisition and in-house development of a wide variety of general and special-purpose ATS - to date, there are 94 unique ATS and a total of 230 ATS. With advancing technology and increasingly complex electronic systems, unique ATS has become a problem of maintenance test strategies at the depot; given the high costs of modernizing or replacing ATS and its potential effect on meeting mission success requirements. The aging testers at TYAD are becoming increasingly out-of-date and more difficult to support. When the testers do not work properly, maintenance can suffer and mission readiness can be adversely affected. This will analyze the problem and present a plan for modernization of ATS at TYAD that satisfies Army Regulation, AR750-43, and DoD ATS acquisition policy.