Intermittent fault-detection avionics test equipment for tough NFF problems offered by Universal Synaptics

OGDEN, Utah, 2 Aug. 2011. Universal Synaptics Corp. in Ogden, Utah, is introducing the Intermittent Fault Detection & Isolation System (IFDIS) avionics test equipment to troubleshoot intermittent failures in avionics systems.The IFDIS uses intermittent fault-detection circuitry to monitor every electrical path simultaneously and continuously in the equipment under test, while exposing the equipment under test to a simulated operational environment.Conventional automatic test equipment (ATE), by contrast, can troubleshoot hard failures, but is limited in testing for intermittent problems because intermittent failures rarely synchronize with the ATE's scanning measurement window, company officials say, which can lead to the no-fault-found (NFF) problem in avionics.

The IFDIS's intermittent fault detection analog hardware neural network circuitry detects and isolates intermittent problems that in other equipment can result in no fault found (NFF) events. The IFDIS can find NFF events as short as 50 nanoseconds.

Graphical test results locate the intermittent fault, and the IFDIS automatically interrogates and stores the as-designed wiring configuration for a good unit and then based on that known good configuration can detect any open, short, ohmic, impedance, drift, or miswiring problem in subsequent equipment under test.

The IFDIS includes an environmental chamber to test avionics equipment to a thermal environment of -100 to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. A vibration platform with 2,205 pounds of force (LFF), a 2-inch peak-to-peak displacement, and 78 inch per second velocity is included. Also part of the IFDIS is a trunnion mounting, 13-inch-diameter table, degauss coil, active suspension system, and cooling blower with a 12 foot flex duct.

For more information contact Universal Synaptics online at www.usynaptics.com.

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