A modular, extendible, and reusable test configuration for design verification testing of mission computers

Abstract

This study shows a different approach for mission computer testing. The standard procedure of testing mission computers consists of the design of wiring set and the interface adaptor. The overall system can be partitioned into three blocks, namely; mission computer(DUT), the interface adaptor, and the test computer. In order to test different mission computers with different wiring interfaces, the interface adaptor and the wirings between these blocks need to be updated for each mission computers. In this study a generic, computer aided and modular test configuration is proposed as a solution to the design verification tests of mission computers. The test computer is prepared on PXI chassis with all required communication ports (RS-422, RS-232, Ethernet, CAN, 1553). In addition, some required modules are added, such as a relay module, a multiplexer module, and a DMM module. A VPC G18 receiver is also combined with the test computer via some mechanical parts. A custom design interface box is the last part of the hardware. The software part is developed in C-sharp and is used mainly for automated tests. However it is also possible to be used at some manually configured, operator driven tests. The proposed test configuration provides a number of improvements compared to the existing test configurations. Reduced test preparation time, reduced engineering support for test preparation, reduced price, and reduced failure rate are some of the major improvements of the proposed system. This configuration is implemented and used on various mission computers that are deployed on various systems on different platforms.