ARC Technology Solutions

Client: A leading provider of rugged, high-grade industrial switches and relays.

Situation: The customer was in need of an automated test platform that could speed up their test times and provide greater accuracy than their current manual methods. The switch itself is very customizable with hundreds of possible configurations. These switches are widely used in various industries, including major power utilities and the military.

ARC needed to design the hardware platform to house and manipulate the switch as well as develop software that could automatically select the appropriate test based on the DUT's physical configuration.

Solution: ARC's approach was to develop a complete turn-key system and deliver a rack-mount based tester in which the DUT would be housed. The tester supplies power to the DUT, simulates trip and reset conditions and tests continuity and switching time. The tester utilizes a complex pneumatic system to manipulate the DUT during the test. ARC also developed a custom software application written in LabVIEW that was designed to be user friendly and customizable. It provides the user with clear indicators and test data output, and it allows for creation of new profiles to incorporate additional configurations of the DUTs.

Upon delivery and on-site integration, the customer saw an immediate increase in throughput at their facility. They were pleased to have a fully functional and working solution for their testing needs and were very impressed with ARC's ability to provide that solution.