Endurance Tester for Mission-Critical Mechanical Component using NI cRIO

Challenge

The client had an older VB & PLC-based test system in place already, but it was obsolete. A new endurance test system needed to be developed to validate prototyped components (in this case, aircraft & aerospace bearings). Many of the prototypes are one-off, so it was important that the test system not destroy the component.

Solution

A new endurance test system was developed to validate prototyped components. The test system can be configured for automatic shutdowns so as not to destroy the component under test in the event of unexpected performance of electro-mechanical subsystem components. The updated endurance tester supports product validation by allowing the product to run under various test conditions (e.g. speed, load, oil flow, temperature) and collecting data for analysis.

Viewpoint developed the software and selected the NI hardware (other hardware was selected by the client).

System Overview

The updated cRIO-based endurance tester incorporates configurable profiles, data logging, and automatic shutdown to allow for safer extended validation testing.  LabVIEW FPGA and LabVIEW RT were used together to interface with the test hardware sensors and controls.  LabVIEW as used create the HMI for the test system.