We’ve said it before: building one-offs is different from building at scale. Even on a small scale. There was a time when it was rare for a hobbyist to produce more than one of anything, but these days, access to cheap PC boards makes small production runs much more common. [VoltLog], for example, is selling some modules and found he was spening a lot of time testing the boards. The answer? A testing jig for his PC board.
Big factories, of course, have special machines for bulk testing. These are usually expensive. [VoltLog] found a place specializing in creating custom test jigs using 3D printing.
They also have some standard machines. He did have to modify his PCB to accommodate special test points. He sent the design files to the company, and they produced a semi-custom testing jig for the boards in about a month.
A Raspberry Pi runs the test and can even sense LEDs turning on if you need it to. Although the device is 3D printed, it looks very professional. The machine accepts an entire panel of PCBs and wedges pogo pins to the test points.
We were curious about the cost of this fixture. Of course, each one is unique, so the cost of his fixture will not be the same as yours, but it would still be nice to have an order-of-magnitude idea of the price. On the other hand, he claims his testing is now 15 times faster, so if you spend enough time testing, the cost is probably insignificant.
Replicating a design many times has plenty of challenges. While we do like the look of [VoltLog’s] machine, we also know you could roll your own pogo pin setup if you were on a budget.
“semi-custom testing jib” should probably be “semi-custom testing jig”
Also, “accommodate”.
Maybe… he was going to sail the board close into the eye of the wind? lol… fixed…
Also, “spening”.
Very nice fixture, although the outboard customer PCB needs to be hardened.
Retired test engineer with many functional and in-circuit testers under my belt. It was $10K minimum (not including any test software) for a high quality functional tester similar to the one pictured, this one is estimated 2500 euros (from their web site). Best advice if considering a testing fixture is to provide dedicated test pads and tooling holes.
See also: https://tinylabs.io/openfixture/
Several years ago I’ve got one custom made in Shenzhen. It did cost about 100 EUR. You basicly give them the gerber of your PCB (or the PCB panel), tell them where the testpoints are and they make one within a couple of days. Details here: https://smdprutser.nl/blog/testing-jigs/
They have several sized fixtures on which they mount the pegs, pogopins and buttons. Because of the standard components they can deliver very quickly. For the pogopins they use sockets so you can change them when they wear out.
that provided basicly nothing, who are “the rig guys”
Read q but farther and flylin.co are the rig guys, or were for that project
As always, there’s a 3 letter acronym for that. DFT (Design For Testability).
No strain relief on internal wiring?
How is this a better usb-serial converter? It doesn’t even take wide voltage from the target.
No ESD protection on uart side. Not on the USB cable itself.
And what about the coverage on the most sensitive part: the soldering of the Type C connector?
gotta say, I’m not a fan of the wiring that he was so excited about. And oh boy, look at the 3D print quality.
Nothing wrong with a pre-built box as a base and some 3D printed positions for pogo pins. IMHO not worth 2500 euros unless you’re making thousands of units and can afford the expense.
gotta say, I’m not a fan of the wiring that he was so excited about. And oh boy, look at the 3D print quality.
Nothing wrong with a pre-built box as a base and some 3D printed positions for pogo pins. IMHO not worth 2500 euros unless you’re making thousands of units and can afford the expense.