Consolidated Bench Testing Equipment sounds good because its approach addresses this problem directly. One standardized tester controlled by software and composed of modules could replace an assortment of special-purpose benches, lower costs, and get crews back into working equipment sooner. It is also an asset decision-making strategy consistent with the way the American Public Transportation Association and the FTA think about assets.

The Real Problem Is Tester Sprawl

Anybody who worked in a depot will know what this means: the depot will have one bench dedicated to doors, one bench to brake or pneumatic functions, one bench to propulsion or traction, yet another one to HVAC, yet another bench to module level faults identification, plus perhaps some temporary benches which eventually become permanent. This is precisely the situation captured by DMC: older equipment, mixed fleets, changes in vendors, and lack of facilities at the depot make consistent troubleshooting and validation of LRUs and other replaceable units very difficult. Moreover, the agency may need to support multiple benches for different types of components, such as electronic, electromechanical, mechanical, and pneumatic. Simply stated, the bench room stops acting as a coherent system and becomes more of a museum of one-offs.

The issue here is that sprawl leads to secondary maintenance requirements. Asset management guidance specifies that agencies require detailed information on the availability of spare parts, suppliers, failure rate, outages, costs, manuals, technical documents, and test data. However, according to APTA, many transit agencies face issues because this information may be missing, outdated, not easily available, or scattered across paper files and different IT systems. On the human resources front, rail vehicle maintenance already requires a wide variety of expertise covering different subsystems such as propulsion, brakes, HVAC, doors, communications, monitoring, and automatic train protection and operation (ATP/ATO). Any additional bench increases the complexity of hardware knowledge and troubleshooting skills.

The comparison to the left is a synthesis of DMC’s CBTE architecture, transit lifecycle management guidance, and established calibration and system health practices.

A simple analogy helps. Traditional bench fleets are like carrying a ring full of keys for doors you barely use. Consolidation is more like a badge system: you still need the right access rules, but you stop maintaining metal for every single door.

Why the Lifecycle Bill Keeps Growing

It is here that the business case really comes into its own. Both the APTA and the Federal Transit Administration make clear that effective asset management must take lifecycle considerations, risk, and performance into account when deciding how to program investments and allocate money in the operations-and-maintenance budget. This means that the true cost of ownership does not end at the expense incurred in acquiring or building the test bench. Rather, it includes the ongoing costs of replacing parts, service contracts, calibration, software degradation, documentation updates, training refreshers, and all those costly delays that occur whenever one specialized test bench stands out as the only available resource. The guidance on measuring costs from the National Institute of Standards and Technology highlights another critical component of that total expense: calibration and traceability provide the foundation for accurate and credible measurements. When an operator maintains five different benches, it is often maintaining five different calibration processes as well.

This is also one reason why “we already own the test benches” may be a dangerous assertion. Old and specialized benches that have been deemed just useful enough to weather the annual budget cycle can suddenly become the very reason why the maintenance schedule stops.

What Consolidation Really Fixes

The best aspect of this design philosophy is that consolidating does not mean becoming monolithic. DMC’s Consolidated Bench Test Equipment (CBTE) design is said to be configurable in the sense of a framework that integrates modular instrumentation, application-specific interfacing, safety conditioning, and automated test software under one roof. DMC also highlights expandability options based on interchangeable test adapters, fixtures, harnessing, instrumentation, and processes, rather than replacing an entire test bench. The best analogy, however, is not that of one magic machine, but of a single drill with a set of interchangeable drills. The tool itself does not change much, but the bit is swapped for a new purpose.

From a practical standpoint, that makes maintenance a lot easier in some concrete ways. For one thing, spare parts inventory requirements go down since common hardware and software elements can be sourced with greater ease. Calibration becomes simpler, too, since technicians will need to manage a smaller number of base units with which traceability can be maintained. Cross-training of specialists will be easier since there will be just one interface and troubleshooting philosophy to learn. Automated test outcome assessment and guided user troubleshooting are also part of DMC’s message, while cloud-based pages hint at test-station monitoring.

Outcomes to focus on in a consolidating effort are, therefore, quite simple to name. The goal is a reduction in support costs per fixed sub-system, fewer bench-specific spare SKUs, fewer calibration events annually, lower mean repair times, shorter repair times for each LRU, and higher availability of tested benches. Only such gains justify adopting the concept in practice.

How to Migrate Without Losing Service

The migration process should intentionally be dull. Begin with a complete list of legacy benches, LRUs supported, interfacing considerations, calibration requirements, repeating failure modes, and problematic subsystems. Identify common tasks based on similarities in signal types, load testing, safety interlocks, harness families, data logging capabilities, and technician workflows. Establish a baseline CBTE core to pilot in a single high-volume or high-pain subsystem before scaling out using the same common core but with additional interchangeable adapters and processes. This approach dovetails with DMC’s modular architecture and lifecycle-planning guidelines and underscores the importance of understanding the economics of CBTE migration as demonstrated by modernization studies, which show that it depends strongly on workload, sustainment costs, and rehosting effort.

As you head towards that moment of truth, three questions should be paramount. Does your new bench test station properly emulate actual fleet operations and maintenance procedures? Will it be capable of meeting your existing fleet’s standards for electronic equipment testing, including EMC compatibility and shock and vibration requirements? Can it scale without needing to create a new core every time you add a vendor change or LRU? These are precisely the reasons why rail standards for electronic equipment, EMC integration, and shock/vibration matter, as well as why modularity, maintainability, UL508A panel build capabilities, and quality ISO 9001 systems management should resonate in your implementation.

If this looks familiar, the next productive conversation may not involve another piece of niche test equipment. Instead, it will entail comparing your overall sustainment responsibilities—spares, calibration, training, downtime, and scalability—against the reality of the depot with respect to a comprehensive, consolidated architecture for testing and diagnostics. Visit the DMC Mass Transit Consolidated Bench Test Equipment page or explore our wider range of Test & Measurement Automation products.

The post The Cost of Fragmented Test Equipment in Mass Transit Maintenance appeared first on DMC, Inc..

Here are some of our favorite insider strategies for maximizing the benefits of VeriStand:

1. Use Built-In CAN Control to Avoid Custom Devices

If your hardware sports a CAN interface (like so many different battery cyclers), you can skip writing a custom device entirely. VeriStand’s built-in CAN functionality is often sufficient for direct control, saving hours of development time and reducing long-term maintenance. We use this so often that you can simply check out any VeriStand case study we’ve made.

This trick came up quickly while quoting a battery test stand project where we immediately realized we could control the cycler natively—no LabVIEW or custom device needed.

2. Delete the VeriStand Cache to Fix Project Crashes

VeriStand occasionally crashes when loading large or complex projects. One fix that worked for us: delete the .cache folder inside the project directory. This resolved persistent load failures and is now part of our troubleshooting checklist.

We discovered this during SAT preparation for the Power HIL Test Stand for an Autonomous Air Vehicle. This one is a lifesaver when you’re under deadline pressure.

3. Real-Time Sequences Run Independently of the PC

Once deployed, VeriStand real-time sequences continue running even if the host PC disconnects. This makes VeriStand ideal for low-cost autonomous test stands—just make sure your sequences don’t rely on dynamic updates from the PC. See one of our case studies using this trick.

We confirmed this with NI Tech Support and now use it to run long-duration tests without worrying about PC uptime.

4. Custom Device Development for HMI Integration

Need to push data from VeriStand to an external HMI? Skip the PC and consider using the Ethernet/IP or Instrument Add-on custom device. This allows you to build flexible VeriStand UIs without relying on LabVIEW, which is great for clients who want maintainability and are sensitive to licensing costs.

We used this approach in a project with an energy storage startup company to integrate a touchscreen HMI with a fuel cell test stand, while keeping their replication costs minimal.

5. Python-Based Real-Time Sequences

VeriStand’s Stimulus Profile Editor supports importing Python-based sequences. This opens the door to more flexible scripting, especially for teams more comfortable with Python than NI’s native tools.

One of our engineers once documented this in a ‘what if’ brainstorming list, and it’s now our go-to method for complex stimulus profiles.

6. Simulating Battery Behavior with Custom Models

In a recent BMS test stand, we built a custom electric circuit model in VeriStand to simulate battery state-of-charge, voltage, and temperature responses. This allowed the client to test flight termination scenarios and temperature excursions without real hardware. See our case study.

This technique was key to validating edge cases that would be risky or impossible to test with live batteries.

7. Tiered Architecture Strategy: VeriStand + TestStand + LabVIEW

When designing battery test systems, we often present clients with three architecture tiers:

• Tier 1: Full NI stack (VeriStand + TestStand + LabVIEW)
• Tier 2: Hybrid solutions using VeriStand with custom scripting
• Tier 3: Fully custom DMC-developed RT applications

This helps clients balance flexibility, cost, and maintainability.

We’ve used this framework to guide architecture decisions for projects ranging from R&D benches to production test systems.

8. Use Aliases to Future-Proof Your System Definition

Assigning an alias to every element in your System Definition File (SDF) helps ensure that screens and sequences continue to work even when variables are renamed. Instead of renaming in the SDF and hunting down every reference, you simply rename the variable and remap the alias.

This trick has saved us countless hours during refactoring and is especially useful in large systems with many dependencies.

9. Alarm Thresholds Are Inclusive—Watch Your Limits

VeriStand alarm thresholds are inclusive, which can trip you up if you’re expecting binary behavior. For example, if you want an alarm to trigger only when a value hits 1, set the high limit to 0.5—not 1. Otherwise, the alarm may not behave as expected.

This one definitely caught us off guard early on. It’s subtle, but important for getting clean alarm logic.

10. The Best Tips Come from the Field— Reasons to Call in an Expert

These tips aren’t in the manual—and that’s the point. They come from real projects, real problems, and real solutions. Every tip in this list came from real DMC projects—none of them are pulled from the web or manuals. They’re the result of solving problems under pressure, collaborating across teams, and refining our approach over time.

Final Thoughts

If you’re building a real-time test system with VeriStand, we hope these tricks help you go faster, debug smarter, and deliver better results. If you’re an engineer with more VeriStand wisdom to share, reach out! We’d love to include your insights in a future update. If you have never used VeriStand, but are considering it, or are already using it and want expert help, give us a call or send us an email. You’ll speak right to an engineer who’s been there and feels your pain, not a salesperson.

The post Developing Real-Time Test Applications with NI VeriStand: Tips and Tricks appeared first on DMC, Inc..

Emerging network security requirements now demand continuous patching and updates. Add to that regular calibration schedules, hardware upgrades, and software enhancements, and it’s easy to see how maintenance can consume significant time and resources. Yet, one of the most underestimated time sinks is often system re-validation—verifying that test, support, or HIL systems continue to perform correctly after every change or update.

Reducing this re-validation burden and keeping teams focused on their core development and operational tasks is critical. That’s where DMC’s Helix SwitchCore platform comes in.

Helix SwitchCore is a configurable, expandable hardware platform designed to automate and streamline system validation. It provides a flexible foundation for test and support environments, helping organizations maintain compliance, reliability, and performance with less downtime and manual effort.

This article takes a closer look at the Helix SwitchCore platform—its key features, adaptability, and how it can simplify validation and certification workflows across a wide range of applications.

System Overview

The Helix SwitchCore platform is designed to adapt to a wide range of test environments through its configurable hardware architecture and modular design.

Configurable Test Interfaces

Every test system has unique interface requirements, and SwitchCore is built to meet them. Whether your application uses MIL-DTL-38999 or other circular connectors, VPC or mass interface connectors, or rectangular formats such as D-subs, the system can be configured to match your existing infrastructure. This flexibility enables seamless integration with both legacy and modern test systems.

Expandable Switching Architecture

At the core of the Helix SwitchCore platform is an expandable switch matrix that enables software-configurable I/O routing. This architecture allows users to dynamically reconfigure test connections without manual rewiring, improving flexibility and reducing setup time. 

The system supports two distinct measurement bus configurations—2A or 10A—each with built-in overcurrent protection. This capability lets the same hardware platform be adapted to different current levels and safety constraints, minimizing the need for custom hardware variants. 

Scalability is another key feature: the platform can support anywhere from 32 test points to over 1,000, depending on system requirements. Its modular power bus and test point configuration options allow engineers to balance cost, performance, and functionality, ensuring the platform fits a wide range of test and validation applications. 

Integrated and Expandable Instrumentation

Helix SwitchCore can be equipped with a range of instrumentation, including programmable power supplies and loads, oscilloscopes, function generators, analog and digital I/O, and serial bus controllers such as RS-422, MIL-STD-1553, and CAN. Its modular design enables the platform to scale and evolve with your test requirements, reducing the need for separate, dedicated test setups.

Smart Host Control and Integration

An integrated host controller monitors instrument status, executes user-defined sequencing functions, and exposes a comprehensive API for easy integration into existing test executives or software architectures. To the end user, the entire platform behaves as a single, unified instrument—simplifying control, configuration, and automation. 

Portable and Cost-Effective

The compact, mobile form factor of the Helix SwitchCore platform makes it easy to move between test stations or store when not in use. This portability helps reduce overall instrumentation costs by maximizing utilization across multiple projects or departments.

Conclusion

As test and support systems grow more complex—and as cybersecurity, compliance, and uptime demands increase—the need for flexible, maintainable, and easily validated hardware platforms becomes essential. The DMC Helix SwitchCore platform was developed to meet that need. 

By combining configurable I/O, expandable instrumentation, and intelligent control, Helix SwitchCore helps teams streamline re-validation, simplify integration, and reduce overall test system lifecycle costs. Its modular design allows lab managers to balance functionality and price, scaling the platform to match immediate project needs while preserving a path for future expansion and technology updates. This adaptability helps organizations make more innovative use of both their capital budgets and engineering resources, minimizing downtime and avoiding costly redesigns as requirements evolve. 

Whether you’re managing an R&D lab, maintaining ground support equipment, or operating production test systems, Helix SwitchCore provides a scalable foundation that adapts as your operational and technical demands change—allowing your team to stay focused where it matters most: on development, innovation, and mission success, not maintenance overhead. 

See How Helix SwitchCore is Being Used

• Modular Hardware-in-the-loop Systems with Shared Test Equipment
• Mobile Calibration Test Stand

The post Configurable Hardware Platform for Validation of Ground Support Equipment and HIL Test Systems appeared first on DMC, Inc..

Standardizing helps, but building a “company framework” from scratch can take quarters (or years) and divert your best engineers. Even after it’s built, engineers inevitably come and go, and soon you may be left with no one who truly understands what you’ve built in-house. 

CORTEX changes the equation. 

What Is CORTEX?

CORTEX is a modular automated test framework built on NI TestStand and LabVIEW that engineering teams use to standardize production and non-real-time validation workflows. It combines a hardware abstraction layer (HAL), custom step types, process model and reporting plugins, and an operator-friendly application to deliver a repeatable platform you can deploy across benches, stations, and sites. 

Is CORTEX Right for Your Team? 

Choose CORTEX if you want to stop reinventing a framework for every new station, deploy consistently across benches and sites, integrate quickly with diverse hardware, and improve reliability with standardized safety and reporting. 

CORTEX Highlights 

• CORTEX standardizes sequencing by leveraging TestStand with a custom Sequence Editor and reusable step libraries. TestStand is an open and industry-leading test sequencer, with plenty of experts who know how to develop tests using this tool and plenty of training for those looking to get started. 
• It abstracts hardware through a HAL and plugin classes for your devices and instruments, including but not limited to: DMMs, Digital/Analog IO, Serial & Industrial Communications, Power Supplies, PLCs, and more. 
• It prioritizes configuration over code with dynamic workspaces, station configurations, and socket mapping for multi-up stations. Your team can spend more time on the configuration without needing to be programming experts. 
• It delivers a production–grade user experience with Auto and Manual test modes, device dashboards, live data channel viewer, alarms, and a roles-based user-permission schema. 
• It ensures reporting and traceability with a combination of Test reports and engineering waveform logs, so you can understand what your test system was doing over the entire test, regardless of what you actually graded. 
• It integrates with your ecosystem: Need to connect to your PLCs/MES for material handling? What about that company database you’ve standardized on? Does your IT want to control user permissions? No problem—CORTEX can integrate with PLCs, custom databases for custom reporting, and IT systems by using LDAP to ensure the application works well in your environment. 

Architecture at a Glance

• The CORTEX app runs tests in Auto or Manual mode and provides dashboards, alarms, and live data visualization. 
• The CORTEX Sequence Editor enhances TestStand with custom tools for workspace management, signal mapping, and test point configuration. 
• TestStand process model and plugins handle device management along with safety interlocks, configuration management, and reporting workflows. 
• The HAL and device plugins integrate instruments like power supplies, standard DAQ, and common industrial communication protocols like Modbus and Ethernet/IP that let engineers configure tests at a high level without the need to dive into low-level code. 
• Data is captured in TDMS logs and TestStand reports, with the ability to correlate data output from both of these files and view them together to provide a comprehensive understanding of the test results. 

What You Get Out of the Box

• Auto Test Mode runs looping, operator-focused sequences with perUUT reports and live sequence execution view with debugging tools. 

• Manual Test Mode gives engineers direct control to run subsequences and operate instruments via device widgets. 

• The Channel Viewer provides real-time signal plots for monitoring and troubleshooting. 

• The Test Results Viewer correlates parametric results with waveform data for faster root cause analysis. 

• Alarms and history views simplify troubleshooting and improve operator understanding of system operations. 

• User permissions enforce role-based access for operators, engineers, and administrators. 
• Safety monitoring runs independently to terminate execution if limits are exceeded. 

How to Get Started with CORTEX

1. Schedule a Discovery Call 
   We’ll start by learning about your current testing setup, your pain points, and your future needs. This helps us understand where CORTEX can deliver the most value. Contact us to schedule a call.

2. See a Live Demo 
   We’ll walk you through the CORTEX framework, including its Sequence Editor, operator interface, and hardware abstraction layer. You’ll see how it simplifies test development and standardizes workflows. 

3. Discuss Your Hardware and Integration Needs 
   We’ll review the instruments, PLCs, and systems you need to connect, and outline how CORTEX’s plugin architecture can support them. These can include both short and long-term needs. 

4. Plan a Pilot Deployment 
   Identify a representative test station that we can deploy CORTEX to for an initial assessment and quick win. The best way to help you become convinced of the value of CORTEX and demonstrate the savings to your management is by experiencing it. After an initial deployment, we’ll work with your team to build a roadmap for scaling across your organization. 

Need hard Real-Time Test Sequencing?

TestStand is awesome at many things, but one thing it’s not suited for is real-time deterministic sequencing (e.g., submillisecond HIL control). If you need software that can do real-time simulation, emulation, or test sequencing, reach out to DMC to learn more about our custom HIL test solutions, as demonstrated in these case studies:  

• Power HIL Test Stand for an Autonomous Air Vehicle
• Battery Stack Simulator for Hardware in the Loop (HIL) Testing of Electric Vehicles

The post Standardize Your Automated Test Systems—Without Starting From Scratch appeared first on DMC, Inc..

NASA’s Procedural Requirement (NPR) 7150.2

Developing test systems for large, complex, multi-use scenarios involves integrating performant, flexible hardware with extensible, user-centric software. Given the complexity and scale of the projects, timelines and budgets must be carefully considered and monitored. Many aerospace companies and US government agencies have codified their lessons learned during test system development in various standards, such as NASA Procedural Requirement (NPR) 7150.2, which is aimed at standardizing the software engineering process. The 7150.2 requirement addresses how to ensure the software’s robustness and the process by which the software is created, with its foundational belief being that the software engineering process is as vital as writing the code itself. Without the proper process, it’s not possible to create the right solution, deliver on time, or deliver on budget.

This makes documentation critical to creating plans and maintaining alignment during all phases of project execution, across all members of your team and partners. Choosing the right documentation tools and creating custom integrations can greatly reduce the hurdles to achieving 7150.2 compliance.

Building Through A.R.T.ful Design

At DMC, we employ an A.R.T.ful engineering philosophy which focuses on Accountability, Reliability, and Traceability in all that we do. An example of this is in our collaboration with Northrop Grumman on the NASA Space Launch System (SLS) Booster Obsolescence Life Extension (BOLE) project, where DMC met and exceeded industry standards processing approximately 100 documents (each with one or more versions) flowed down from Northrop Grumman defining not only the end article’s requirements, but also the process by which the end article must be constructed (7150.2 being one of those documents). The documents were synthesized into our databases, and each requirement catalogued.

DMC created numerous plans and designs in response to these requirements while involving Northrop Grumman in the requirement refinement process. Our team of expert developers created both hardware and software solutions, clearly indicating in code where the solutions met the designs. Before, during, and after development, our team followed quality assurance processes so that the system would be sufficiently tested, keeping a traceable record of results back to requirements.

Putting Principles into Practice

Successfully executing mission-critical ADG applications requires more than just technical skill—it takes a disciplined, process-driven approach centered on Accountability, Reliability, and Traceability. At DMC, we’ve proven through countless successful projects that our engineering philosophy enables us to exceed stringent compliance standards while remaining flexible and collaborative throughout the project lifecycle. In short, as A.R.T.ful engineers, “We say what we do, we do what we say, and we prove that we did it.”

The post ADG Mission-Critical Applications: Building the Right Way with A.R.T.ful Design appeared first on DMC, Inc..

DMC recently integrated a Fluke 726 handheld multifunction calibrator into a turnkey automated test stand. The test system incorporated a large switching matrix connected to multiple test instrumentation hardware components to perform a variety of automated test sequences on our client’s test article.

Multifunction process calibrators are powerful and unique instruments capable of sourcing and measuring more signal types than a multimeter including thermocouple signals, RTD signals, and low current transmitter signals. The Fluke 726 that our customer requested does not have a benchtop or PXI chassis-mountable form factor which made integration a challenge.

Advantages of the Fluke 726

Though handheld devices are awkward to integrate in otherwise very standardized server racks, the Fluke 726 offered our client several advantages over a collection of other, similar rack-mounted devices. The Fluke 726 is already widely used at our customer’s facility, meaning that a calibrated supply of these calibrators is readily available to swap into the test system if needed by the end user. Additionally, keeping the existing equipment allows us to implement the customer’s exact test steps without needing to adapt their tests for new equipment, allowing an easy one-to-one comparison of automated and manual test results.

Power

Unlike most of our automated test equipment, the Fluke 726 is powered with four AA batteries, which posed a unique challenge to integrating it in our turnkey system where most devices run on 120V or 240V power. We opted to integrate a battery eliminator to allow us to power the calibrator with the rest of our system and minimize the downtime of constantly changing the batteries. Our custom-built Power Distribution Unit converts facility power into different voltages for our test instrumentation and sends power to our battery eliminator, allowing the Fluke 726 to power up with the rest of our system and integrate into our emergency-stop safety circuit.

Automated Control

The Fluke 726 is controllable with VISA commands via an RS-232 serial interface. This allowed us to integrate control of the Fluke 726 into our custom application by wrapping these VISA commands into LabVIEW drivers and creating APIs for each of our customer’s desired functions, such as simulating a thermocouple voltage, measuring an RTD signal, etc. These functions are then available to the user for manual control of the device through our application.

Taking it one step further, these LabVIEW drivers are also wrapped into custom TestStand steps which allows us to integrate control of the calibrator into automated test routines and log measurements from the calibrator.

Takeaways

Integrating handheld devices rather than rack-mounted devices is not commonly needed in automated test equipment design, but when it provides value to an end user it can be incorporated as described in this article. Though it was contrary to our usual instrument integration, DMC was prepared to tackle the challenge and created a robust solution that satisfied our customer’s needs and can be propagated to future projects where customers have similar requirements.

Learn more about DMC’s Test and Measurement Automation and LabVIEW programming expertise and contact us for your next project.

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Northrop Grumman (NG), a large-scale defense contractor working with NASA, selected DMC to create the automated electrical production test equipment that will help make sure each booster is qualified for respective Artemis missions. DMC’s previous successes in developing large-scale rocket testing systems for Northrop Grumman played a significant role in giving NG the confidence to choose DMC for this critical test asset, Jesse Batsche, Senior Director of Test & Measurement, noted.

“DMC has successfully developed projects for Northrop Grumman, and the BOLE test system is the next iteration based on that success,” Chris Cilino, Senior Project Engineer on the project, LabVIEW Champion, and Certified LabVIEW Architect, said. “We were honored to be selected by Northrop Grumman because of our design, passion, and completeness of the solution.”

Zak Pearson, a Project Engineer working on the project, agrees that being awarded the contract was based on DMC’s good reputation, earned trust, and demonstrable capabilities expressed through our prior projects with Northrop Grumman.

“DMC’s BOLE test system leverages our robust and capable rocket system aerospace defense testing technologies – including both software and hardware design and infrastructure that we have built up through many prior projects and previous Northrop programs,” Jesse said. “Applying that historical work and experience allows us to build upon an elevated pedestal as we design the NASA BOLE test equipment. And while we’re leveraging a strong platform starting point, we are certainly extending and extrapolating our designs in new and unique ways to meet the demanding requirements of the BOLE EPSE project, where this evolution and customization is an essential aspect of designing specialized, top tier test and quality systems.”

DMC is comprised of Certified TestStand Architects (CTAs), Certified LabVIEW Architects (CLAs), Certified LabVIEW Developers (CLDs), and a LabVIEW Champion. We hold our engineers to high standards at DMC, as evidenced by these certifications.

“This project has very high and rigorous standards for overall quality, compliance, traceability, and documentation,” Jesse said. “This is part and parcel to working on a mission-critical NASA booster system that needs to be flawless and operate for many years, or even many decades to come. DMC is well positioned to apply and, where appropriate, elevate all our existing internal processes, tooling, and operating procedures to execute this project in the manner our customer expects.”

When asked why Northrop Grumman chose DMC, Jamie Sorensen, a Project Management Specialist at DMC, said: “We were very responsive and excited to collaborate to create the best system for them. We weren’t trying to sell them on a particular product or sell them on a certain way. We were just trying to figure out what made sense for what they wanted. I think they felt we were very honest with them but we also liked to have fun – just very good personalities. They also liked that our engineers were very closely involved in everything from the design to the sales process. Most companies normally have a salesperson pitch the final product, and we had all of our engineers go through their designs and be able to speak to it at a very technical level.”

Our ability to analyze and synthesize requirements into a solid design played a significant role in DMC’s selection, according to Chris.

“DMC instilled confidence in the BOLE team because we very carefully listened to and tracked everything that they asked for during our conversations. We showed them how our designs would meet both their technical needs and business needs. This is DMC’s standard process for medium to large-scale projects,” Chris said. “We excel in what I call A.R.T.ful engineering: ART – accountability, reliability, traceability. When we say accountability, we mean can answer ‘why we did what we did.’ By reliability, we mean we create high-quality products that are both technically correct and meet a user’s needs. Said another way, reliability means you can trust us to provide a valuable solution. By traceability, we use project management and development processes that clearly display the evolution of designs and decisions. These three aspects are important for corporations like Northrop Grumman who work on mission-critical projects.”

DMC’s track record developing rocket testing (and other advanced aerospace/defense systems) demonstrates that we have a reliable approach to mission-critical projects. Part of our approach includes selecting the right hardware and software platforms and tooling to meet requirements. In the BOLE solution, DMC selected the NI platform as well as other products from vendors such as Pickering. 

“The NI platform is open, and not only works with other hardware like Pickering switches, but also other software such as Python, .NET, C Sharp, and C++,” Chris said. “While NI’s platform is very capable, its ability to work with other technologies provides DMC flexibility to pick the right tools for each part of the project. That’s where DMC’s tagline of “Smart People. Expert Solutions.” comes into play. When we say the word expert, we mean we can select and/or create the right tool for the job that gives the client what they need, when they need it, and at an appropriate price.” 

We have expertise in developing software that composes diverse hardware into systems that meet many common needs, according to Chris.

“We enable our customers to create sequences of actions to effectively test their devices while monitoring the full test system, including an ongoing log of events and an ongoing log of collected data,” Chris said. “This comprehensive history helps ensure the integrity of test results.”

After all the data is gathered, we synthesize and nicely summarize the results so that our clients can quickly determine what passed, what failed, and if the device under test met their needs. We’ve developed numerous internal technologies over many projects that we will utilize on the BOLE tester, accelerating the time to the solution’s delivery with a high-quality result.

“We have significant experience creating these types of systems yielding a large body of code that, with minor modifications, will meet the customers’ needs. A key element of DMC’s value proposition to a customer is that we can execute complex tasks with high ROI because we’re building on a previously proven code base,” Chris said. “In addition to our own internal tools and technologies, we utilize commercial off-the-shelf technologies (COTS) – like the National Instruments hardware and software platform, further accelerating the solution’s delivery.”

DMC has selected NI LabVIEW for the BOLE project to facilitate these efficient and accelerated delivery and code reuse goals. 

“LabVIEW’s inherent parallelism allows us to quickly create systems that behave like the world. LabVIEW is a graphical, data-flow driven programming language, and is therefore inherently parallel. I can easily write code that executes in parallel, and, it turns out, that’s how the world behaves,” Chris said. “There are many activities occurring at the same time in any test system. For example, most test systems require applying stimuli, measuring responses, and making decisions all in parallel. This parallel activity in other languages is possible but requires additional programming overhead. LabVIEW enables us to write concurrently executing code without additional overhead. LabVIEW’s inherent parallel processing, plus its tight integration with the NI hardware, lets DMC quickly, efficiently, and, therefore, with high value, give our clients what they need.”

In addition to the core system functionality, DMC also places high emphasis on user experience, operational maintainability, and solid/reliable ongoing support as essential ingredients to a complete project lifecycle, according to Zak.

“Focusing on the human aspect of the system, specifically user stories for how individual people would interact with the system, really helps DMC center our own efforts on making people’s lives better and easier and helping them be more effective in their jobs, Zak said. “That’s from both the software and hardware sides. We have really good approaches on the hardware side to save our customers a ton of time and really reduce the manual effort of a lot of the test process.”

DMC cares about the ‘why?,’ and why starts with the specific people using our solution, according to Chris. 

“We pride ourselves on identifying all the stakeholders of a project and then making sure that the solution meets each stakeholder’s needs. This process starts with a persona analysis,” Chris said. “Once we know WHO our solution will serve, we then work with our clients to define WHAT the solution should do, usually expressed in requirements statements. DMC has developed processes and tooling to capture every requirement (aka the “WHAT”). Our engineers translate requirements into designs (aka the “HOW”) and traceably correlate specific designs to each requirement. Designs are broken down into development tasks and traceably correlated back to requirements. Tests are collaboratively developed and traceably correlated back to requirements. At each stage, we traceably correlate our work to requirements that ultimately enable people’s workflows.”

Chris calls this the chain of custody.

“This chain of custody is part of accountability, reliability, and traceability (A.R.T.-ful engineering) and instills confidence in clients that we can and will meet their needs, Chris said. “It all boils down to trust. The Northrop Grumman team presented us with a large set of requirements, and we’re telling them we can create a solution that meets their needs. We’ve earned their trust because of the systems we’ve put in place, the quality of our designs, and the quality of our people. Our systems enable us to tackle these complex, mission-critical applications.”

This project represents an exciting challenge for the DMC team.

“I am very excited. I think this is one of the coolest projects I’ve gotten to be involved in. It’s always been a dream to work on something related to the space industry, specifically, human space flight. Being a part of that mission, being a part of NASA, and helping to support that is very cool. Having the opportunity to be, however small the contribution, a part of the process to getting humans back to the Moon and to Mars is cool to be involved with,” Zak said. “Our contribution is really cool because it’s at this system level; we are dealing with the whole booster avionics system, so we can say we helped test the whole thing. We will know how the whole thing works together, and we are kind of given the final go or no go for that rocket. I think it’s a cool way to contribute, and I am thrilled we get the opportunity to do so.”

The BOLE opportunity fulfills many DMCers dreams to work on impactful projects related to aerospace and defense.

“My participation in the BOLE project fulfills a lifelong dream to somehow, someway, be involved in the space program. Space has always inspired me,” Chris said. “Now, with DMC, I get the chance to fulfill that lifelong dream. This project is impactful. There is personal fulfillment for me at DMC.”

The project provides personal fulfillment and growth to DMCers and DMC as a whole. 

“I’m excited to continue growing in this sector. This is one of the largest projects we have done,” Jamie said. “This is also a giant step for us in terms of expanding our aerospace and defense capabilities, and I think it’s a great opportunity.”

Everybody on the team is more excited about this project than almost any other that we have had the chance to work on, according to Jesse.

“It’s very cool just to be able to do our part for this grand engineering challenge — supporting the SLS program and Artemis missions and verifying the boosters that are going to bring both crew and cargo up to the Moon and Mars,” Jesse said. “It’s definitely going to be a marquee project that demonstrates the type of engineering contribution DMC is able to make to our customers and to the world.”

Learn more about DMC’s Industries Served and contact us today for your next project.

The post DMC and NASA’s Journey to the Stars appeared first on DMC, Inc..

NI TestStand

TestStand is a flexible platform designed to make developing, debugging, and deploying test systems quick and easy. The ready-to-run test management software allows users to integrate code modules written in other programming languages to their test sequences in TestStand.

Becoming a Certified TestStand Architect (CTA) is the final step in the two-part TestStand certification process. First, candidates must achieve the status of Certified TestStand Developer (CTD). This includes having an average of 12 to 18 months of experience developing, debugging, and deploying applications in TestStand and passing a four-hour exam demonstrating best practices.

After earning the CTD, candidates are eligible to earn certification as a CTA. The Certified TestStand Architect exam verifies expertise in architecting test systems based on TestStand from high-level specifications. Certified Architects are technical leaders. They coach the developers on their team to become more efficient and to follow best practices.

"Being recognized as a TestStand Architect is the pinnacle of certification for a TestStand Developer," said DMC Project Engineer Steven Dusing. "It acknowledges an engineer's deep understanding of NI's core test executive framework and their capability to leverage it effectively. Receiving this certification will give our customers trust that we know the ins and outs of TestStand and can deliver a high-quality test executive framework that can both scale and adapt to rapidly changing business needs."

DMC and NI

One key element of a CTA is their agility at integrating LabVIEW with TestStand. DMC has developed numerous LabVIEW operator interfaces using TestStand. Combining these two platforms allows us to leverage years of investment by NI into TestStand's sequencing abilities in addition to the flexibility of LabVIEW to customize that power and tailor it to specific customer needs.

DMC has worked with National Instruments since 1997, earning recognition as an NI Alliance Member, NI Center of Excellence, NI Vision Specialty Partner, Migrations & Upgrades Partner, and a SystemLink Specialty Alliance Partner. Our experienced team of certified architects, developers, and trainers includes the most LabVIEW Certified Architects in the Midwest. Our LabVIEW solutions include test and measurement, product development, research and development, and high-tech manufacturing.

Learn more about DMC's partnership with National Instruments and contact us for your next project.

The post DMC Engineers Recognized as NI Certified TestStand Architects appeared first on DMC, Inc..

NI TestStand

TestStand is a ready-to-run test management software designed to help you quickly develop, debug, and deploy your test systems. This flexible platform allows users to develop test sequences in TestStand integrating code modules written in other programming languages.

To become a Certified TestStand Developer, candidates must demonstrate a broad and complete understanding of TestStand features and functionality. They have an average of 12 to 18 months of experience developing, debugging, and deploying applications in TestStand. During a four-hour exam, candidates use provided specifications to create a test stand sequence that implements functionality in the spec while following best practices.

"Being certified in TestStand means we can develop, debug, and execute sequences in a way that follows NI's best practices," said DMC Project Engineer Cecilia Brookshier. "It proves that we can develop in a modular, maintainable, and easy to configure way. We can make recommendations for our clients on their test sequences that demonstrate NI's best practices."

DMC and NI

DMC has worked with National Instruments since 1997, earning recognition as an NI Alliance Member, NI Center of Excellence, NI Vision Specialty Partner, Migrations & Upgrades Partner, and a SystemLink Specialty Alliance Partner. Our experienced team of certified architects, developers, and trainers includes the most LabVIEW Certified Architects in the Midwest. Our LabVIEW solutions include test and measurement, product development, research and development, and high-tech manufacturing.

Learn more about DMC's partnership with National Instruments.

The post DMC Engineers Recognized as NI Certified TestStand Developers appeared first on DMC, Inc..

Battery Pack and Module Validation Demonstration and Q&A

See NI Alliance Partner DMC give a demonstration of the NI Battery Test System (BTS) including custom operator interface options with LabVIEW, test system I/O and equipment configuration in VeriStand, test scripting and reporting with TestStand, and systems and data management in SystemLink.

NI developed the Battery Test System to optimize battery test workflows and give test teams the access and flexibility they need to respond to rapidly changing test requirements. The BTS can help you stay ahead of requirements churn and drive test efficiency improvements to accelerate schedules, increase test coverage and quality, and reduce the total cost of test.

After the demonstration, Cecilia Brookshier and Jesse Batsche of DMC and members of the NI BTS team will answer your questions during a live Q&A session. 

Event Info

The NI Automotive Exchange 2020 virtually connects engineers, business leaders, and partners in the Automotive industry. Discuss critical industry challenges, like managing test systems for rapidly evolving technology, integrating massive data volumes from multiple sensors, and developing cohesive software test systems for automotive ECUs.

The event offers a mix of live and on-demand sessions ranging from 15-20 minutes so you can optimize your time. If you miss a live session, they will be available on-demand after the event.

Topics will include:

• ADAS and Autonomous Vehicles
• Electric Vehicles
• Infotainment and Connectivity
• Electronic Test

Benefits of attending:

• Live and on-demand sessions to fit your scheduling needs
• Hear bold perspectives from NI and other Automotive industry leaders
• Interactive sessions with live Q&A
• Live demos of the latest Automotive technologies
• Connect with Automotive Industry leaders

Registration

This global virtual event will take place on November 18 with a wide offering of live and on-demand content delivered across multiple regions in Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

Register for your preferred time zone. We look forward to virtually seeing you at the event!

Learn more about DMC’s partnership with National Instruments. 

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