Abstract:
A large scale automated test system employs one or more relay boxes that contain and support one or more relay boards. Each relay board is operated to selectively communicate an item being designed, for example a cell phone, an automobile, or an aircraft, with two or more electrical components being considered in the design of the item to evaluate the performance of each electrical component in the item being designed.

Description:
[0001]    Field 
         [0002]    This disclosure pertains to a large scale automated test system. In particular, this disclosure pertains to an automated test system that employs one or more relay cards that are operated to selectively communicate an item being designed, for example a cell phone, an automobile, or an aircraft with two or more electrical components being considered in the design of the item to evaluate the performance of each electrical component in the item being designed. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    In the design of electrically controlled items that comprise many different types of electrical components, it is often necessary to test and evaluate the performance of each electrical component with the item being designed before the electrical component is manufactured into the item. The testing evaluates the performance of each electrical component with the item being designed, and evaluates the performance of each electrical component with other electrical components in the item being designed. This enables a determination of each electrical component being suitable for use in the item being designed before the design of the item is finalized. 
         [0004]    For example, in the design of an aircraft, several different electrical components from different suppliers can go into the design. For example flight control components, navigation components, cabin climate control components, etc. The various different electrical components are electrically communicated through an automated test system with a test version of the aircraft to evaluate the performance of each of the electrical components with the aircraft and with other electrical components used in the design of the aircraft. 
         [0005]    For example, flight control electrical components of different suppliers are individually communicated through the automated test system with the test version of the aircraft to evaluate that component&#39;s interfacing with the aircraft and the other electrical components of the aircraft to ensure that the particular electrical component will function satisfactorily. The existing ways of electrically communicating the different electrical components and the test version of the aircraft with the automated test system and switching between each of the electrical components to communicate each electrical component individually with the automated test system and the test version of the aircraft are cumbersome, costly and not scalable. 
         [0006]    There are various different ways of communicating the electrical components with the automated test system and through the test system with the test version of the aircraft. According to one method, multiple different configurations of cables are built that are manually connected to the electrical component being tested and the automated test system. To selectively switch between the different electrical components of different suppliers, it is necessary to manually disconnect the multiple cables from the electrical component of one supplier and connect the multiple cables to the electrical component of another supplier for the other electrical component to be tested with the test version of the aircraft. This method is disadvantaged in that building multiple different cables needed to communicate the electrical components tested with the test version of the aircraft is both time consuming and labor intensive. Disconnecting the cables from an electrical component and then reconnecting the cables to the next electrical component can result in errors in system functionality of the automated test system. Additionally, manually disconnecting the cables and then reconnecting the cables can take hours. There is a long switch time with risks of misconfiguration (bent pins, cable swaps, etc.). Switching the cables puts wear on the automated test system connector of the cables, limiting the life of the automated testing system. 
         [0007]    Another method of communicating each of the electrical components with the automated test system and the test version of the aircraft is to construct a separate patch panel for each of the electrical components to be tested. A separate custom patch panel is used to switch between each of the different electrical components and the automated test system and the test version of the aircraft. This method is disadvantaged in that the custom patch panels are very costly (in hardware used to create each patch panel and in the engineering time needed to create each patch panel). Furthermore, because each patch panel is custom designed for a particular electrical component, the patch panels are very under-utilized. Although, switching one patch panel out for another patch panel to communicate different electrical components with the automated test system does not require as much time as switching cables, switching the patch panels puts wear on the patch panel connectors and limits the life of the patch panel. 
         [0008]    A Versa Module Europa (VME) bus based cabinet can also be used to switch between electrical components being tested with a test version of an aircraft through the automated test system. However, the VME cabinets are very costly to construct. The switching requires active control of hundreds of signals of multiple relay channels. The VME bus based cabinet also requires custom cables that are very costly to manufacture to interface the VME cabinet with the automated test system and the test version of the aircraft. 
         [0009]    In addition to VME switching mechanisms, there are relay switching mechanisms in VXI (VME extensions for instrumentation), PCI (peripheral component interconnect), PXI (PCI extensions for instrumentation), and LXI (LAN extensions for implementation) formats, to name only a few. All of these share the disadvantages of higher cost per signal, higher power consumption, special interfaces to the test system controller, and custom interface cables to the equipment under test. 
         [0010]    Custom interconnect systems have also been constructed to communicate the electrical components through the automated test system with the test version of an aircraft. These interconnect systems employ relays that are built to toggle between the separate electrical components being tested with the test version of the aircraft through the automated test system. However, custom interconnect systems are costly to design and build. They are also physically large, that limits their scalability. Switching between the electrical components requires active control of hundreds of relay signals. There are also hundreds of relays consuming power in normal operation of the custom interconnect system. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0011]    The large scale automated test system of this disclosure provides a way to quickly switch between multiple different electrical components, where the multiple different electrical components are controlled by a computer control of the automated test system that selectively switches between electrical components and a test version of an aircraft. The system is able to test multiple different configurations of electrical components automatically, with little or no switch over time and with a relatively low upfront cost. The system simplifies the ways in which different electrical component configurations can be tested with a test version of an aircraft, enables overall scalability whereby the number of electrical components to be tested with the test version of an aircraft can be increased with the system requiring very low power consumption. The system is controlled by a computer control of the automated test system to communicate distinct configurations of the electrical components being tested with the test version of the aircraft within seconds, compared to the potential hours wasted by switching over cables of current test systems. The system also consumes no power during its normal operation and only a few watts of power as it is being switched. 
         [0012]    The features that enable the large scale automated test system to be controlled to communicate particular electrical components with a test version of an aircraft are housed in at least one relay box of the test system. The relay box automates the switching between either a first electrical component or a second electrical component to be tested with the test version of an aircraft. The relay box enables the quick switching between the first electrical component and the second electrical component with the test version of an aircraft, with the switching being done much more quickly than the switching between electrical components of the testing systems described earlier. 
         [0013]    The relay box basically contains a plurality of relay boards. The relay boards are large printed circuit boards with each relay board being populated with a plurality of latching relay switches communicated with the printed circuit. 
         [0014]    There are a plurality of connectors secured along one edge of each relay board. In the operative environment there are six connectors on the relay board edge. A first of the connectors is communicable through a cable attached to the connector with a first electrical component being tested by the testing system. A second of the connectors is communicable through a cable attached to the second connector with the first electrical component being tested by the testing system. A third of the connectors is communicable through a cable attached to the third connector with the test version of an aircraft. A fourth of the connectors is communicable through a cable attached to the fourth connector with the test version of an aircraft. A fifth of the connectors is communicable through a cable attached to the fifth connector with a second electrical component being tested by the testing system. A sixth of the connectors is communicable through a cable attached to the sixth connector with the second electronic component being tested by the system. 
         [0015]    A bank switching apparatus controlled by the computer control of the automated test system is also provided on each relay board. The bank switching apparatus is operable to switch to a first switch state or a second switch state. Where, with the first connector communicating with the first electrical component, with the second connector communicating with the first electrical component, with the third connector communicating with the test version of an aircraft, with the fourth connector communicating with the test version of an aircraft, with the fifth connector communicating with the second electrical component and with the sixth connector communicating with the second electrical component, the computer control of the automated test system controls switching of the bank switching apparatus to the first switched state which communicates the first electrical component through the first and second connectors with the respective third and fourth connectors and the test version of an aircraft. The computer control controlling switching of the bank switching apparatus to the second switched state communicates the second electrical component through the fifth and sixth connectors with the respective third and fourth connectors and the test version of an aircraft. 
         [0016]    The relay box is constructed to contain and support a plurality of like relay boards. By increasing the number of relay boards, the testing system is scalable, whereby a large number of electrical components can be tested with the test version of an aircraft. Scaling up or down is as easy as adding relay boards to the relay boxes or removing relay boards from the relay boxes. 
         [0017]    As various modifications could be made in the construction of the apparatus and its method of operation herein described and illustrated without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative rather than limiting. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims appended hereto and their equivalents. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0018]    Further features of the large scale automated test system are set forth in the following description and in the drawing figures. 
           [0019]      FIG. 1  is a representation of a front elevation view of a large-scale automated test system reconfigured with relay boxes and relay boards of this disclosure. 
           [0020]      FIG. 2  is a representation of a perspective, elevation view of one of the relay boxes and its associated relay boards removed from the automated test system of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0021]      FIG. 3  is a representation of a perspective view of one of the relay boards removed from the relay box of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0022]      FIG. 4A  is a schematic representation of the relay board of  FIG. 3 . 
           [0023]      FIG. 4B  is a schematic representation of the relay board of  FIG. 4A  when a set command is sent to the relay board. 
           [0024]      FIG. 4C  is a schematic representation of the relay board of  FIG. 4A  when a reset command is sent to the relay board. 
           [0025]      FIG. 5  is a schematic representation of the internal wiring of the relay boards contained in one of the relay boxes. 
           [0026]      FIG. 6  is a schematic representation of the internal wiring of an indicator panel that communicates with the relay boxes. 
           [0027]      FIG. 7  is a schematic representation of a front elevation view of the indicator panel of  FIG. 6 . 
           [0028]      FIG. 8  is a schematic representation of the adaptability of the relay boxes and their relay boards for testing electrical components with various different test systems. 
           [0029]      FIG. 9  is a schematic representation of the scaleability of the relay boards of the relay boxes. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION 
       [0030]      FIG. 1  is a representation of a large scale automated test system  10  that has been reconfigured with the features of this disclosure to be described. The test system  10  communicates a plurality of different electrical components  12 ,  14  with a test article  16  through the test system  10 . In this disclosure the electrical components  12 ,  14  are avionics control components and the test article  16  is a test version of an aircraft. However, the concepts of the test system  10  to be described can be used in many other types of test system applications. Although only two electrical components  12 ,  14  are shown in the schematic representation of the automated test system  10  in  FIG. 1 , it should be understood that the features of this disclosure reconfigure the automated test system  10  and enable the automated test system  10  to be communicated with multiple different electrical components in addition to the two electrical components  12 ,  14  represented in  FIG. 1 , and through the automated test system  10 , communicates selected electrical components of the multiple different components with a test version of an aircraft  16 . 
         [0031]    As represented in  FIG. 1 , the large scale automated test system  10  is comprised of many different electrical devices found in current test systems such as a power supply  20 , a master computer control  22 , control panels  24  and programmable power supplies  26 , as well as other electronic devices typically found in an automated test system. In addition to the typical features of the automated test system  10 , the test system  10  has been reconfigured with three relay boxes  28 ,  30 ,  32  and a relay state indicator panel  34  that are the features of this disclosure. The reconfiguration of the automated test system  10  with the relay boxes  28 ,  30 ,  32  and the relay state indicator panel  34  enables the test system  10  to quickly switch between electrical components  12 ,  14  by the operation of the relay boxes  28 ,  30 ,  32  and communicate the selected electrical component through the automated test system  10  with a test version of an aircraft  16 . 
         [0032]    Each of the relay boxes  28 ,  30 ,  32  is constructed in the same manner. Therefore, only one of the relay boxes  28  will be described in detail herein. It should be understood that the other two relay boxes  30 ,  32  have the same construction as the relay box  28  to be described. Additionally, although the automated test system  10  is shown comprising three relay boxes  28 ,  30 ,  32 , depending on the intended operation of the automated test system  10 , the test system  10  could be comprised of one or two relay boxes  28 ,  30 , or could be comprised of more relay boxes than the three relay boxes  28 ,  30 ,  32  represented in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0033]      FIG. 2  is a perspective elevation view of the relay box  28  removed from the automated test system  10  of  FIG. 1 . The relay box  28  includes a box enclosure  36 . The box enclosure  36  contains and supports six relay boards  38 ,  40 ,  42 ,  44 ,  46 ,  48 . Depending on the intended use of the automated test system  10 , there could be fewer relay boards or more relay boards in the relay box than the six relay boards shown. The relay box also has a power input  50  that is connectable through a conductor to the power supply  20  of the automated test system  10 . The conductors described herein could be electric signal conductors, optic signal conductors, or any other equivalent type of conductor. The power input  50  communicates power to each of the relay boards  38 ,  40 ,  42 ,  44 ,  46 ,  48  from the power supply  20  of the automated test system  10 . A ground connection  52  on the relay box  36  is connectable through a conductor to a ground of the automated test system  10 . The ground connection  52  grounds each of the relay boards  38 ,  40 ,  42 ,  44 ,  46 ,  48  with the ground of the automated test system. Additionally, a computer control interface connection  54  on the relay box  28  is connectable through a conductor to the computer control  22  of the automated test system  10 . The computer control interface connection  54  communicates each of the relay boards  38 ,  40 ,  42 ,  44 ,  46 ,  48  with the computer control of the automated test system. The computer control interface  54  receives “set” and “reset” communications from the computer control  22  of the automated test system  10 . These signals control the operation of each of the relay boards  38 ,  40 ,  42 ,  44 ,  46 ,  48  as will be described. These communication connections are represented in the schematic of  FIG. 5 . 
         [0034]    Each of the relay boards  38 ,  40 ,  42 ,  44 ,  46 ,  48  has the same construction. Therefore, only one of the relay boards  38  will be described in detail herein. It should be understood that the other relay boards  40 ,  42 ,  44 ,  46 ,  48  have the same construction as the relay board  38  to be described. 
         [0035]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the relay board  38  removed from the relay box enclosure  36 . The relay board  38  is a standard printed circuit board. In the illustrated embodiment, the relay board  38  is 19″ wide and is 18″ deep. This large relay board  38  enables a large number of latch relay switches  62  to be mounted on the relay board  38  in communication with the printed circuit conductors on the relay board  38 . Each of the relay switches  62  is typical in construction and operation and is operable to switch between a first switched state or set condition, or a second switched state or reset condition. Each of the relay switches  62  switches only between the set or reset conditions. 
         [0036]    The printed circuit of the relay board  38  also communicates with a plurality of connectors  64 ,  66 ,  68 ,  70 ,  72 ,  74  secured to the relay board  38 . As represented in  FIG. 3 , the connectors  64 ,  66 ,  68 ,  70 ,  72 ,  74  are secured on opposite sides of the relay board  38  along a rearward edge of the relay board  38  where they are easily accessible for the attachment of conductors to the connectors. In the embodiment of the relay board  38  represented in  FIG. 3 , each of the connectors  64 ,  66 ,  68 ,  70 ,  72 ,  74  is a seventy eight pin standard D connector. Each of the connectors  64 ,  66 ,  68 ,  70 ,  72 ,  74  is configured to have sixty eight pins active (thirty four signal wire pairs). Whereby, the single relay board  38  can switch two of the connectors  64 ,  66 ,  68 ,  70 ,  72 ,  74 , or sixty eight signal wire pairs of the two connectors through sixty eight of the relay switches  62 , to the test version of an aircraft  16  across the remaining four connectors on the single relay board  38 . Referring to the example of 
         [0037]      FIG. 3 , two of the connectors  64 ,  72  mounted on the top of the relay board  38  are connectable through conductors with a respective first electrical component  1 EC and a second electrical component  2 EC to communicate the electrical components  1 EC,  2 EC through the printed circuit of the relay board  38  and through the relay switches  62  with a connector  68  mounted on the top of the relay board  38  that is connectable through a conductor with the test article TA, or the test version of an aircraft in this example. Two of the connectors  66 ,  74  mounted on the bottom of the relay board  38  are connectable through conductors with the respective first electrical component  1 EC and second electrical component  2 EC to communicate the electrical components through the printed circuit of the relay board  38  and through the relay switches  62  with a connector  70  mounted on the bottom of the relay board  38  that is connectable through a conductor with the test article TA, or test version of an aircraft. On operation of the relay switches to their first switch state or set condition, the two connectors  64 ,  72  on the top of the relay board  38  are communicated with the connector  68  on the top of the relay board. On operation of the relay switches  62  to their second switched state or reset condition, the two connectors  66 ,  74  on the bottom of the relay board are communicated with the connector  70  on the bottom of the relay board. In the set condition of the relay switches  62  the two connectors  66 ,  74  on the bottom of the relay board  38  do not communicate with the connector  70  on the bottom of the relay board. In the reset condition of the relay switches  62  the two connectors  64 ,  72  on the top of the relay board do not communicate with the connector  68  on the top of the relay board. 
         [0038]    A relay state control connector  78  is also provided on the relay board  38 . The relay state control connector  78  communicates through a conductor connected to the relay state control connector  78  with the computer control  22  of the automated test system  10 . The relay state control connector  78  receives signals from the computer control  22  that control the relay switches  62  to move to their set or reset conditions in response to the signals received by the relay state control connector  78  from the computer control  22 . 
         [0039]    A power connector  82  is also provided on the relay board  38 . The power connector  82  communicates through a conductor connected to the power connector  82  with the power supply  20  of the automated test system  10  and supplies power to each of the relay switches  62  to power the switching of the relay switches  62  between their set and reset conditions. 
         [0040]      FIG. 4A  is a schematic representation of the latch relay switching of the relay board  38  represented in  FIG. 3 . Based on the relay state control signals, with the set condition signal received by the relay state control connector  78 , the relay switches  62  are controlled to communicate the connectors  64  and  66  with the connectors  68  and  70  respectively, which communicate with the test article TA, or the test version of an aircraft in this example. This is represented in  FIG. 4B . Thus, the first electrical components  1 EC are communicated through the relay board  38  with the test article TA. With the reset condition signal received by the relay state control connector  78 , the relay switches  62  are controlled to communicate the connectors  72  and  74  with the connectors  68  and  70  respectively, which communicate with the test version of an aircraft. This is represented in  FIG. 4C . Thus, the second electrical components  2 EC are communicated through the relay board  38  with the test article TA. In our earlier example, the first electrical components  1 EC are communicated through the relay board  38  with the test version of an aircraft TA when the set command is given, and the second electrical components  2 EC are communicated through the relay board  38  with the test version of an aircraft TA when the reset command is given. This enables the first electrical components  1 EC and the second electrical components  2 EC to be quickly switched between the test article TA without requiring the costly and time consuming practice of switching over cables to the first electrical components  1 EC and second electrical components  2 EC, without constructing separate patch panels for each of the electrical components, without requiring custom interconnect systems or any of the other various different ways of communicating the electrical components through the automated test system with the test version of an aircraft as done in the past. Furthermore, the above example only considers one of the relay boards  38  of the multiple relay boards  38 ,  40 ,  42 ,  44 ,  46 ,  48  in only one relay box  28  of the multiple relay boxes  28 ,  30 ,  32  employed in the automated test system  10 . When considering all of the relay boards and all of the relay boxes in the automated test system  10 , it can be seen that the relay boxes  28 ,  30 ,  32  and their multiple relay boards can be employed in communicating a large number of electrical components through the automated test system  10  with the test version of the aircraft TA. 
         [0041]    The communication of set and reset signals to the relay state control connector  78  on the relay board  38  can be controlled by the computer control  22  of the automated test system  10 . Alternatively, or in addition to computer control, the communication of set and reset signals to the relay state control connector  78  can be manually controlled at the relay state indicator panel  34 . The internal wiring of the relay state indicator panel  34  and its communication with the three relay boxes  28 ,  30 ,  32  is represented schematically in  FIG. 6 . The front of the indicator panel  34  is represented in  FIG. 7 . As represented in these two figures, the relay state indicator panel circuitry includes six switches S 1 , S 2 , S 3 , S 4 , S 5 , S 6  on the indicator panel  34 . The circuitry also includes six LEDs L 1 , L 2 , L 3 , L 4 , L 5 , L 6  mounted on the relay state indicator panel  34 . As represented in  FIG. 7 , each of the switches S 1 , S 2 , S 3 , S 4 , S 5 , S 6  is a manual push button switch that is associated with a respective LED L 1 , L 2 , L 3 , L 4 , L 5 , L 6 . Other types of equivalent manually operable switches could be employed instead of push button switches. 
         [0042]    In the manual operation of the automated test system  10 , the operator of the test system  10  determines what configuration is needed, or which electrical components are to be communicated with and tested with the test article. If two electrical components are desired to be communicated with the test article and tested with the first test article, the operator presses switches S 1 , S 3 , S 5 , resulting in the LEDs L 1 , L 3 , L 5  lighting up and resulting in the set condition of the relay boards in the relay boxes. If the operator desires to communicate and test two other electrical components with the test article the operator manually presses the switches S 2 , S 4 , S 6  causing the corresponding LEDs L 2 , L 4 , L 6  to light up and causing a reset signal to be sent to the relay boards of the relay boxes. In this manner, various different electrical components can be tested through the automated test system  10  with the test article. The connections are established quickly and require only power to operate the latch relay switches  62 . There is no disconnecting of cables and reconnecting of cables involved. 
         [0043]    Although the operation of the relay board  38  has been described above in switching between different electrical components that are to be connected with a test article such as a test aircraft, the concept of the relay board  38  can also be applied in other industries. This is represented in  FIG. 8 . For example, the relay board  38  can be controlled to switch between first and second electrical components that are selectively communicated with an automobile electronics test system. In another example, the relay board  38  can be controlled to switch between first and second microprocessors that are selectively communicated with a microprocessor test system. In a further example, the relay board can be controlled to switch between first and second cell phone electronics that are selectively communicated with a cell telephone test system. 
         [0044]    Still further, the relay board  38  is scalable and can be communicated through one of the connectors  72  with an additional relay board  84  as represented in  FIG. 9 . In the cascading arrangement of the relay boards  38 ,  84  represented in  FIG. 9 , a first electrical component communicating with the first connector  64  and second and third electrical components communicating with two electrical connectors  84 ,  88  of the second relay board  40  can be tested with a test article communicating with the connector  68  of the relay board  38 . 
         [0045]    The large scale automated test system  10  is able to be commanded into distinct configurations by the computer control  22  within seconds compared to potential hours wasted with the current systems. The large scale automated test system  10  is overall much more scalable than the existing systems, while still maintaining the ease of control and small switch over time. The system  10  also consumes no power during its normal operation and only a few watts as it is switching. The relay board  38  being configured with standardized connectors  64 ,  66 ,  68 ,  70 ,  72 ,  74  and relay switches  62  enables a greatly simplified cascading capability so that complex alternative configurations of electrical components can be communicated into a test article or test version of an aircraft in a ground laboratory or a flight-based laboratory test environment. 
         [0046]    As various modifications could be made in the construction of the test system and its method of operation herein described and illustrated without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative rather than limiting. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims appended hereto and their equivalents.