Proceedings Article | 16 May 2006
Proc. SPIE. 6207, Infrared Imaging Systems: Design, Analysis, Modeling, and Testing XVII
KEYWORDS: Target detection, Sensors, Control systems, Collimators, Telecommunications, Black bodies, Modulation transfer functions, Electro optical systems, Electro optics, Forward looking infrared
In all stages of an electro-optics system's life, development, production, and periodic maintenance, a large amount of
manpower and time is devoted to testing. Each subsystem separately as well as the system as a whole are tested by a PC
controlled test system, which consists of hardware for creation of the appropriate stimuli, and software for tests
management and control. A very considerable portion of this manpower and time is devoted by the system manufacturer
to configure the test routines, to manually input certain parameter values of the Unit Under Test (UUT) at predefined test
nodes, and to reconfigure these routines from time to time, as the needs change during the system's life time.
CI has developed the CTE (CI Test Executive), a software package which is a breakthrough in saving manpower and
time devoted to electro-optics system testing. The new concept is based on:
1. The CTE can communicate directly with any UUT able to communicate with the outside world through a known
protocol, to automatically set the UUT parameters before testing,
2. The user can more easily reconfigure the communication with the UUT through a provided special Excel file,
without the help of the test system manufacturer,
3. The interface screen is automatically reconfigured every time the Excel file is changed to build the new test routine,
4. The CTE can simulate the test system stimuli with error injection capability, and simultaneously monitor
communication and other hardware functions,
5. Test "verification" signals are provided on-line for the convenience and time saving of the test operator.
