JOE DAWSON

1747 Scenicview Court · San Leandro, California 94577

510.798.6234 · jdawson@netcom.com

 

 

Lab Automation (2004-2008)

 

Project Summary

 

 


This is a product for internal IDT use. It is a 3-tier, data driven, lab bench automation system. It can be operated concurrently by multiple users.

 

As a tester, it accepts a test plan from the test engineer; drives the test instruments (oscilloscopes, pulse generators, power supplies, etc.); permutes test parameters (such as voltage, temperature, frequency) and records measurements.

 

As a data repository, it maintains the source data (original measurements) for report substantiation, further analysis and auditing.

 

As a report manager, it generates reports using data from multiple operators, benches & sessions; indexes reports by part and time frame to assist retrieval; performs data aggregation and statistical analysis; and publishes reports in the built-in viewer on the LAN or web, or exports them to Excel.

 

The viewer renders n-dimensional data onto a three dimensional surface and allows the user dynamically to rotate or swap axes, reorder keys or move them independently between axes using only a mouse. The user can view the data in statistical form [min|max|mean|sum|count|sigma] or drill down to the original source data.

 

Like VersaClock, this system is data-driven. New parts, tests and instruments can be added without reprogramming.

 

A PowerPoint summary can be downloaded at http://joedawson.com/resume/Lab Automation.ppt.

 

Lab Automation has an authoring mode for the creation of new parts, reports, programming schemes and other features without resorting to updating the database manually or writing new code.

 

Threading: Two threads. One for UI and the other to drive the instruments and take measurements.

 


 


TECHNOLOGIES

 

Hardware: Intel x86; National Instruments GPIB; Proprietary relay board; Lab instrumentation including oscilloscopes, temperature forcers, power supplies, pulse generators and others

 

Platforms: Windows XP, NT, 2000

 

Programming Languages: MFC, C++, Visual Basic, SCPI

 

Data Management: MS SQL Server

 

Development Tools: Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, COM, Windows MSI, XML, MSXML4, HTML