Exploring the Next Frontier in Test & Measurement
Clive Davis, the European marketing manager for Yokogawa Test & Measurement, highlights how portable instruments can greatly enhance the versatility of automotive testing.
Modern automotive engineers face significant challenges in two main areas. Firstly, they need to quickly identify and fix design and manufacturing issues. Secondly, there’s a pressing need to improve the performance and efficiency of propulsion and energy storage systems in electric and hybrid vehicles.
To address these issues effectively, engineers require high-quality instruments that can be used in real-world conditions to measure and record data. When it comes to developing power electronics products, the right measuring equipment is crucial at various stages.
Architecture and Design
At this stage, engineers need instruments that can handle fast inverter switching, high-frequency dynamics, pulse overshoots, and waveform triggers. An oscilloscope, particularly a mixed-signal one with multiple channels (eight is ideal), is essential for viewing input and output signals in three-phase systems.
Efficiency Validation
For validating efficiency in electric drives, key tests include power analysis, conversion efficiency, harmonic measurement, and battery charge/discharge processes. A high-precision, high-accuracy power analyzer is the go-to instrument for these tasks.
Insight and Analysis
Gaining deeper insights requires measuring and analyzing a mix of electrical, mechanical, and physical signals, as well as automotive bus signals like Can and Lin. These results need to be processed to show trends and interactions within the drive system. For this, a scope-corder—a hybrid of an oscilloscope and data-acquisition recorder—provides unparalleled insights into system dynamics.
Portability
Transferring these kinds of tests from the lab to actual vehicles presents challenges related to portability and power availability. Luckily, modern compact, lightweight portable instruments now address these issues. They allow for precise, long-term measurements and combine the features of general-purpose oscilloscopes with high-performance data recorders.
Unlike older portable measuring instruments, these new portable tools offer high levels of precision, isolated inputs for high-voltage measurements, and large memory capacities for recording data over extended periods.
Plug-in Modularity
A significant advantage of these instruments is plug-in modularity. This feature allows the instrument to adapt to different applications through user-swappable input modules. For instance, the same device can measure isolated 16-bit voltage inputs at high speeds and simultaneously handle different temperature measurements or signals from multiple Can or Lin buses. Swapping just one module can enable even faster measurements.
In summary, modern portable instruments transform how automotive engineers test and validate vehicle systems, providing the flexibility, precision, and portability needed to meet today’s demanding automotive challenges.
