Austin, TX. Astronics Test Systems chose NIWeek to debut its ATS-3100 PXI integration platform, which the company describes as a “starter system-in-a-box” that enables engineers to create and configure new test, measurement, or other systems based on the PXI architecture.
“We’ve made it easier than ever before for systems designers to create PXI-based solutions,” said Brian Price, vice president of Astronics Test Systems, in a press release. “We’re eliminating the time wasted in configuring and debugging complex cabling or the custom integration of instruments. This new platform offers a streamlined, deployable solution that does all the hard work for you. Simply plug in your instruments, install your software, and get going on producing your complete PXI system solution.”
“The core idea behind NI’s open software and modular hardware approach is flexibility that can be harnessed by the end user,” added Reggie Rector, principal solution manager at National Instruments. “The ATS-3100 represents a highly integrated extension to the NI PXI platform to simplify the design and deployment of automated test systems.”
The ATS-3100 saves engineers time, complexity, and NRE costs for applications involving testing, measuring, stimulating, computing and monitoring. It can serve as a building block for desktop and rack-mount systems used in R&D or manufacturing. It features an 18-slot hybrid PXI/PXIe chassis, reconfigurable front and rear panels to accommodate customer-defined I/O, internal cable and connection management, a touchscreen display, a controller, and mechanical packaging. It’s compatible with NI’s TestStand and LabVIEW software.
Available PXI modules from Astronics include a digitizer, pulse pattern generator, frequency time and interval counter, rubidium frequency standard, and digital test instrument. Astronics also offers the ATS-3100 as part of a turnkey solution.
Also at NIWeek, Astronics highlighted its portable CTS-6000 Tactical Radio Series communications test set, which can test both analog and digital functions of the most widely deployed military tactical radios.
The company describes the CTS-6000 Series as a comprehensive communications tester for field and at-platform testing, reducing testing time and cost, maintenance and calibration costs, lifecycle ownership costs, and the number of “no fault found” results. The company further calls it “essentially an entire lab bench in a tablet-sized device,” enabling users to employ more than 16 included software-driven test instruments to test tactical handsets, amplifiers, antennae, and any other component of a radio system.
An upgrade earlier this year added five new test functions: error vector magnitude (EVM), wideband streaming transmit (TX) and receive (RX), real time RF burst trigger, power analyzer, and nonvolatile memory (NVM) reader and avionics data loader.
