True auto-ranging supplies provide a better solution for ATE applications than traditional power supplies

Programmable DC power sources are an essential tool in product development testing and production testing of today’s electronic devices and systems. These devices must not only operate at the nominal input, but also at marginal voltages. A programmable DC power supply lets you quickly set up these conditions and run the necessary functional tests.

In some cases, a unit under test (UUT), such as a DC motor drive or a DC-DC converter, will draw constant power under variable test conditions. When running these tests, the ability of a programmable DC source to provide increased current at reduced output voltage is valuable. This ability is known as “autoranging.” Designing an automatic test system with DC supplies without auto-ranging often requires users to buy power supplies with too much capacity or use additional supplies to supply enough power to run the test.

Minimizing test costs with regenerative loads

Switch-mode power supplies used in data centers, industrial equipment, medical devices and other critical applications are typically “burned in” by operating them at full load over an extended period. These burn-in tests root out early failures and ensure reliable operation over a supply’s rated lifetime. Traditionally, companies run these tests using relatively inexpensive resistive load banks that convert the power output to heat. Consequently, energy costs can be quite high. Using regenerative electronic loads can, however, dramatically reduce energy costs by redirecting the load power back to the utility. The energy savings can be up to 93%! Another benefit of dissipating less heat is being able to use smaller cooling fans. Using smaller fans dramatically reduces the audible noise compared to typical air-cooled loads. Regenerative loads are also smaller than typical air-cooled loads, meaning that you need less rack space or bench space.

No matter the application, EA has the interface you need

Every automatic test application has its own interface requirements. That’s why it’s important to have a wide variety of digital interface options. Whatever your ATE needs, EA can supply the right remote monitoring interface.

For example, when testing a large system like an aircraft, a test system may be located quite a long distance from the control computer. For this application, you may want to outfit your power supply or electronic load with an Ethernet interface. For a production application, interfacing with a programmable logic controller (PLC) may be important. For this application, you may want a Profibus or Profinet IO interface. In some cases, you may be upgrading a legacy ATE system. For these applications, you may want an RS-232 or GPIB interface. 

Bidirectional power supply repeatably tests battery-powered equipment

Battery-powered equipment can be difficult to test, because battery performance varies from unit to unit, and because once batteries are discharged, you have to suspend testing until they’ve been charged again. To get around these limitations, you can use EA’s bidirectional power supplies, such as the EA PSB-10000, to simulate a charging or discharging battery during an automated test.

Simulating a battery when testing battery-powered equipment allows you to test under various battery conditions without having to wait for a battery to charge or discharge to a specific state-of-charge. To make this even easier, we provide battery simulation software for Windows PCs, the EA Battery Simulator. This software can control one or more EA-PSB 10000 power supplies to simulate standard lead-acid (AGM) and lithium-ion batteries in series or parallel. The user can adjust battery parameters for a test, and once a test has started, it runs automatically. The combination of a bidirectional power supply and this software eliminates the need for maintaining a bank of batteries for testing, while at the same time providing a wide range of test voltages and charging/discharging currents that are reliable and repeatable.