ATE or the Automotive Testing Expo is a leading international trade show for every aspect of automotive testing, development, and validation technologies, held annually in Detroit, Shanghai, and Stuttgart. ATE is important to the industry because it gives attendees the ability to see the latest and greatest products and solutions under one roof for the various technologies and services available for ADAS and autonomous vehicle testing, electric and hybrid powertrain testing, ev battery testing and more.
Tektronix finds value in attending ATE because it provides an opportunity to connect with the automotive industry and allow our customers to take advantage of our technical experts as they demonstrate automotive industry solutions and electrical measurement techniques. Live demonstrations were shown for:
- Battery Production testing with Keithley instruments
- EV Traction Inverter and Motor Drive analysis
- CAN Bus Troubleshooting with the NEW 2 Series MSO
(The 2 Series MSO is a portable full-featured, realtime touchscreen 2 or 4 channel battery powered (optional) oscilloscope.)
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Wide bandgap double pulse testing set-up for power electronics
One of the great demos Product manager, David Smith, conducted was for Battery Simulation using the 2218S Power Supply, which allows engineers to upload battery models in order to test battery operated devices to ensure they work properly for consumer usage. Also demonstrated was a Battery Charge and Discharge application using the 2460SMU and DAQ6510 which helps users build models of their desired battery that they can then upload into the 2281S for further testing. The final battery production test we displayed at the booth was Open Circuit Voltage Testing, demonstrated on the DMM7510 that uses a 7 ½ digit display which combines precision, high-resolution to get the most out of measurements.
Watch the demonstration for Battery Product Testing here.
In the next demo, we combined the precision and accuracy of Keithley Instruments with the industry-leading probe performance of Tek scopes.
In the middle of our booth, Natalie Palmisano, a Tektronix product application engineer provided a demo Double Pulse Testing on power semi devices utilizing SiC and GaN with a 5 Series B MSO oscilloscope, an AFG31000, a Keithley power supply, and probes. Double-pulse testing is the standard method for measuring the switching parameters of MOSFETs or IGBT power devices. Historically it has been a time-consuming process to set up the double-pulse test, as function generators do not have a built-in way to configure and set up the test. However, the Tektronix AFG31000 arbitrary function generator has a built-in software application that enables double pulse testing right from the touchscreen interface of the instrument, dramatically simplifying the process for engineers.
View a short snippet of the demonstration for double pulse testing here.
Another demonstration was for electronic vehicle traction inverter and motor drive analysis (IMDA). This IMDA demo uses the 6 Series B MSO oscilloscope, voltage and current probes, and 3-phase inverter motor drive analysis software. During debug and validation phases, oscilloscopes are the instrument of choice thanks to their versatility and speed. They can precisely measure the performance of switching power converters and control circuitry. With the right probes, they can measure with high bandwidth over wide voltage and current ranges. Special 3-phase inverter and motor drive analysis software enables fast, repeatable analysis, including making complex DQ0 measurements with ease and mechanical measurements like speed, direction, angle, and torque.
Watch the short demonstration of EV traction inverter and motor drive testing here.
The final demo was on CAN bus troubleshooting with the new 2 Series MSO Mixed Signal Oscilloscope. CAN, LIN, and FlexRay are relatively mature bus protocols and are designed to be robust and easy to integrate. Even so, communications can be impacted by noise, board layout, and power-up/down timing. Problems can include excessive bus errors and lock-ups. Unlike basic protocol analyzers, oscilloscopes equipped with protocol decoding, can be used to see both the decoded bus traffic, as well as signal quality. This ability to see bus signals and decoded traffic makes oscilloscopes the best choice for troubleshooting. More importantly, oscilloscopes can be used to troubleshoot problems at the system level. Automobiles rely on extensive networks of sensors, actuators and displays, and many problems involve bus timing relative to I/O events or values. Oscilloscopes are well-suited for looking at I/O signals and bus transactions at the same instant. Because of this capability, they are the instrument of choice for system-level debugging.
Watch the demonstration for CAN Bus troubleshooting with the NEW 2 Series MSO here.
As we spent time at the booth and with the application demos, it was clear that attendees were eager to find solutions to their pain points and were open with their concerns about their application needs. ATE is a great representation of Automotive Industry and is a valuable event when it comes to building relationships with customers and other companies in the industry. It allows Tek and Keithley to share our value of quality, accuracy, and precision to the industry on a personable level that exposes the bottom-line problems so we can begin working towards solutions.
The Automotive Testing Industry is growing and expanding to new levels as companies race to keep up with changing application needs and demands to keep cars operating efficiently and safely. Tektronix is looking forward to connecting with the new faces we met and focused on building relationships of the momentum of ATE. We can’t wait to see all the directions the industry will grow in and how that will affect The Automotive Testing Expo in 2023. Until then, check out our demos from the booth and we will see you at the next Automotive Testing Expo!