Most test benches require measurements on fast transient signals. Those measurements are best done with oscilloscopes when the sampling rate goes above 1MS/s/ch. Oscilloscopes are therefore a great addition to any automated test bench.
Unfortunately, modern oscilloscopes require a large number of parameters to be configured before a measurement can be taken (selecting channels, vertical scale on each channel, time scale, trigger level, etc.). The instrument’s measurements presented as short burst of data differ greatly from other typical instruments returning single data point or a continuous stream. All this typically makes it difficult for engineers to properly integrate oscilloscopes into test benches for flexible usage.
Symplify Now! solves this problem by integrating all the required commands within a single driver and exposes all of them through its Tag engine. This means that any parameter can be exposed on any user interface and written/read from a script (Symplify Now! supports Python.) The waveforms returned by the instruments are made available as a LabVIEW waveform to display on a graph, save to disk or process in real time in your custom logic.
The most recent versions of Symplify Now! supports Tektronix MSO2 and MSO5 out of the box. Synovus can also provide configurations for other devices on request since each instrument has slightly different command formats. Synovus intends to add support for more Tektronix oscilloscope models as well as Rhode & Schwartz MXO5 series in the future.
Open source so you can modify it
One of the greatest benefits of Symplify Now! is that it can run compete test sequences out of the box. The second most valuable feature is that when customers reach the limit of the built-in feature, they can access the source code of Symplify Now! with a valid license of LabVIEW+ Suite. This lets you create new user interfaces, integrate custom drivers for your product and increase the simulation and validation capabilities of the tool.
The oscilloscope driver is available in the source code version of Symplify Now! This means that our users can quickly create a copy of the code and modify the LabVIEW code to integrate the specific commands of the oscilloscope they are using. Some customers have even extended this capability to PC based USB oscilloscopes successfully.
Read more in this blog post about the technical implementation and features of the driver.
Symplify Now! distributed by Testforce
If you integrate NI DAQ and traditional test and measurement (T&M) instruments in your testbench, please contact your Testforce representative in Canada and USA. Find out how Symplify Now! can save you thousands of hours, reduce your risk and improve your products’ quality.
For customers in other regions, please contact Synovus Solutions directly at info@synovus.ca.