A smart fixture is an advanced
test fixture
A test fixture is a device used to consistently test some item, device, or piece of software. Test fixtures are used in the testing of electronics, software and physical devices.
Electronics
In testing electronic equipment such as circuit boa ...
which combines a fixture with
sensor
A sensor is often defined as a device that receives and responds to a signal or stimulus. The stimulus is the quantity, property, or condition that is sensed and converted into electrical signal.
In the broadest definition, a sensor is a devi ...
s to collect data and provide feedback. They are a subset of
cyber-physical systems. Sensors and/or
instrumentation
Instrumentation is a collective term for measuring instruments, used for indicating, measuring, and recording physical quantities. It is also a field of study about the art and science about making measurement instruments, involving the related ...
embedded in the fixture are connected to a
programmable logic controller
A programmable logic controller (PLC) or programmable controller is an industrial computer that has been ruggedized and adapted for the control of manufacturing processes, such as assembly lines, machines, robotic devices, or any activity that ...
or
computer
A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...
which apply algorithms to determine if required criteria are met i.e.
functional testing
In software development, functional testing is a form of software testing that verifies whether a system meets its functional requirements.ISO/IEC/IEEE 24765:2017, "Systems and software engineering — Vocabulary", International Organization fo ...
.
A smart fixture can be a
manufacturing fixture or simply a
test fixture
A test fixture is a device used to consistently test some item, device, or piece of software. Test fixtures are used in the testing of electronics, software and physical devices.
Electronics
In testing electronic equipment such as circuit boa ...
. The smart aspect is fully realised in the use of the data collected via
IIoT/
Industry 4.0.
machine learning
Machine learning (ML) is a field of study in artificial intelligence concerned with the development and study of Computational statistics, statistical algorithms that can learn from data and generalise to unseen data, and thus perform Task ( ...
,
artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...
and other
big data
Big data primarily refers to data sets that are too large or complex to be dealt with by traditional data processing, data-processing application software, software. Data with many entries (rows) offer greater statistical power, while data with ...
tools can be applied to perform real time analysis and predictive decision making to improve operational efficiencies.
Electronics
Circuit boards, are held in place and subjected to controlled electronic test signals.
Examples of fixtures:
* Uploading a software into a
microcontroller
A microcontroller (MC, uC, or μC) or microcontroller unit (MCU) is a small computer on a single integrated circuit. A microcontroller contains one or more CPUs (processor cores) along with memory and programmable input/output peripherals. Pro ...
and testing the functionality of the
PCBA
* Checking the correct parameters of a
LED
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corresp ...
light
See also
*
Device under test
A device under test (DUT), also known as equipment under test (EUT) and unit under test (UUT), is a manufactured product undergoing testing, either at first manufacture or later during its life cycle as part of ongoing functional testing and calibr ...
*
Bed of nails tester
References
SmartFixture of 6TL by David Batet.
SmartFixture of ColumbiaSmartfixture from Romex BV
by Peter van Oostrom (Dutch Language)
Unit testing
Tests
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