When Serco needed to increase production of their "Prisoner Curfew Tags" they faced the prospect of automating a complicated manual test process.
In addition they need to ensure that the product functioned in a real world environment due to its highly sensitive nature and potential contractual penalties associated with the product function.
Terotest worked closely with Serco to determine the scale of testing that would be possible then specified the best possible way to automate the process while keeping the solution within budget. This included the need for RF, Fiber-Optic and Analogue Testing.
A PXI solution using PXI-e cards from Marvin Test Solutions, a spectrum analyser and ATEasy software was specified for its flexibility and in-built sequencer. The software was divided into easy to use sections for each product function such that the end user could create multiple versions dependent on customer requirement and country of use.
RF and Fiber-optic testing functions were integrated into the specially designed fixture and formed a large part of the engineering required to simplify the project.
The final solution was delivered on time and on budget. The test time went from many minutes down to seconds and the automatic recording of test records removed the need for a trained engineer. In addition Serco can now test field returns for full function as part of its contractual obligations.
