3.3 Creating The Program
Section 3 describes the procedures used when creating the test program with the AT Series Test Program Editor.
By the end of this chapter you will be able to:
- Set up the program options
- Add a test to the program
- Insert a test in the program
- Modify an existing test in the program
- Delete a test
- Use the measure button to create test parameters
- Verify the program - including fixture compensation
3.3.1 Setting The Program Options
OVERVIEW
After you have created the program schematic, before starting to insert any tests in the program, you should set up which program options you would like to use.
From the Top Level menu bar, select:
Program >
Options
You will then see the following dialogue box:
You may now set up any of the following options by simply clicking with the left button of the mouse:
*Results Printing |
|
Printed reports may be obtained from the printer port of the tester as follows: |
Off |
There will be no results printed out during
the test execution. |
Failures Only |
The results of the tests producing a ‘fail’
result will be printed. |
Full Reporting |
The results for all the tests in the program
will be printed out for each transformer
tested. |
Operator Numbering |
During program execution, the operator will
be prompted to enter his or her identity
code. All results will then be tagged with
this code. |
Batch Numbering |
During program execution, the operator will
be prompted to enter a batch number, which
will be attached to the test results. |
Serial Numbering |
During program execution, the operator will
be prompted to enter a serial number for
each transformer. The number will then be
attached to the results for the next
transformer tested. |
*Send Results to Server |
Select this option if you wish to have the
tester send all the measurement results back
to the Server PC for archive or analysis. |
*Send Retry Results to Server |
Enable this function if you wish the Server
Archive to contain the results from the
additional measurements associated with rerunning
a program, for example after
execution has been halted by the STOP ON
FAIL program option. |
Stop on Fail |
Select this option to give the fastest test
throughput. During program execution,
only transformers which produce a ‘pass’
result will be fully tested; failures will be
rejected at the earliest opportunity. |
Date and Time on Reports |
Select this option to have the reports date
and time tagged. |
AQL (Acceptable Quality Level)
Settings for production test are defined here. AQL is the level of test failures in a batch that are acceptable. Exceeding the AQL is an indication that there is a problem with the quality of the production process or the quality of materials that are being used. AQL monitoring is an optional feature of the Voltech PC Server, which displays live summary results from multiple AT testers. When the AQL set here is reached or exceeded, the Server will display a warning. Both types of AQL limits may be used at the same time. Reaching any one limit will cause a warning to be displayed on the Server.
For further details, see the AT Server section of this manual.
AQL No. of Parts |
This is the number of failures in the batch at
which a warning will be displayed on the
Server. This is most often used when the
batch size is always similar, or zero / very
small numbers of defects are expected. |
AQL % of Parts |
This is the percentage level of failures at
which a warning will be displayed on the
Server. Note that this AQL is only applied
after sufficient parts have been tested to
make the percentage meaningful. When
setting AQL % of Parts to be 1%, for
example, a warning will only be displayed
after 100/1 = 100 parts have been tested. |
Fixture ID |
Finally, you should enter a fixture name.
The Fixture Name can be up to 20
characters long. You may use any of the
characters which appear on the tester's
keyboard:
A .. Z (upper case only)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 . - / ( ) and 'space' |
When the test program is run on the AT Series Tester, the operator will be prompted to fit the fixture with this name. This will help to make sure that the correct fixture is used.
Note that the fixture name does not have to be the same as the program (part) name. This makes it possible to have one fixture common to a number of transformers which may, for example, have the same arrangement of pins, but have different windings requiring different test programs.
External AC Source |
It is possible to use an external ac source to
generate the test signal for testing. Using an
external source extends the power and
voltage range available. The source must be
coupled to the tester via a Voltech AC
Source Interface (contact your supplier for
details). This option allows you to choose
and configure the type of external source
you will be using; see the External AC
Source Interface user manual for details.
If you are not using an external source, it is
IMPORTANT that the source type is set to
'None'. |
Custom Text |
This is the percentage level of failures at
which a warning will be displayed on the
Server. Note that this AQL is only applied
after sufficient parts have been tested to
make the percentage meaningful. When
setting AQL % of Parts to be 1%, for
example, a warning will only be displayed
after 100/1 = 100 parts have been tested. |
When you have selected all the required options, click on the OK button to return to the top-level menu.
STOP ON FAIL
With this function enabled, the tester will stop program execution whenever a fail is detected, rather than carrying out all the tests in the test program and reporting the passes and fails at the end.
This enables the user to quickly identify a faulty transformer and replace it with another before all the tests have been carried out, thus speeding up the test process. When a fail is encountered, the tester will display a warning screen and stop the program. The display will inform the user of a test failure, and indicate which limits have been exceeded.
An example of this display for an inductance test is shown below.

1 |
Part name / number. |
2 |
Failing test number. |
3 |
Qualification of the failure showing the value measured with respect to
the range of legal values, where:
Box – Represents the user programmable limits for the test
Vertical bar – Represents the value measured |
4 |
Value measured, with appropriate units. |
5 |
Available softkey functions. |
From this display, after you have pressed the CONTINUE soft-key, the tester will execute the remaining tests in the program, and the transformer will be recorded as a fail. (If any further tests fail, then there will be another display similar to the one above for each failing test.)
If you simply wish to throw away the failing transformer at the earliest opportunity, then press the ABORT soft-key to terminate this program run, and return to the RUNFINISH display, from where you can start the program again for the next transformer in the batch.
Alternatively, you may use the RE-RUN soft-key if, for example, the failure is due to the fact that the transformer is not correctly inserted in the test fixture. In this case, program execution starts again, and the transformer will receive a ‘pass’, if the only fault was that it had been wrongly inserted at the first attempt.
After you have pressed the RE-RUN soft-key, the tester will then be executing a ‘retry’. When results are sent to the Server, unless you have enabled the program option ‘Send Retry Results to Server’, then no result will be sent to the Server Results File except those for the final execution run, i.e. the one that produces the pass or fail front panel display.
If you wish to see the measured results from each retry in your Server Results File, then you should enable the program option ‘Send Retry Results to Server’ when the program is created in the Editor. This option could provide data, for example, which allows you to improve your production process and yield.
Notes:
- The third line showing the graphical comparison of the measured value and user programmable limits has a logarithmic scale. The measured value may be represented by either a vertical bar (as shown) when it lies within the range that can be displayed on the LCD, or by an arrowhead (< or >) at the end of the horizontal bar when it lies outside the range that can be displayed on the LCD.
- Should the tester be returning results to a PC running the editor software, then the editor software will ‘freeze’ when this screen is displayed until the appropriate softkey (Re-run, Continue or Abort) is pressed.