Steve Carter Project Examples

Steve Carter Example Projects

Dual 200V Source / Measure Upgrade

Added an off the shelf source / meter into 30 year old Test Equipment

HardwareNew Sub BackplaneCabling from meter to Device Under Test SiteMultiplex using existing PCBDiagnostics loadboard

SoftwareAgilent / Keysight software running on Windows based controller.Tester operating system BASIC test statement conversion to meter command set

DocumentationOption ManualInstallation Procedure

Idle System Alert

Option to signal a light if the system is idle Switch control of between 1 and 10 seconds

Operator interface On / Off switch1 to 10 second select switch (not shown)

CircuitRe-triggerable monostable 10 selectable Resistor / Capacitor time delay circuits

Mechanical / Electrical interface for repair of a double sided PCB

Repair Station for Double Sided PCBs

MechanicalElectrical connection is via pogo pins on one side of the PCBStation must rotate to allow access to either side of the PCB

Electrical Connections Low power - 5V @ 200maHigh power - 120V @ 2ATiming - 50

Rack to contain Sources / Stimulus

Manual Inking option Solenoid Control

Manual Control of an Inking Cartridge

Controlled Pulse DurationThe solenoid had a precise timing specification, 60 Volts for 15ms

MechanicalThe box was an add on option so magnets were chosen to allow the operator to have flexibility on where to secure the box to the system

Reverse Engineer and build equivalent diskEmbedded DSP Computer

HardwareIdentified and purchased a duplicate set of hardwareThe chassis was custom built, identified the closest equivalent

SoftwareStating from a Microsoft Sysprep image, researched and downloaded the exact version of each software driverWrote a software load procedure to install all software and drivers to function the same as the original drive

VerificationWrote a test procedure to ensure the controller functions correctly.

Tech Support NVRam chips in Sun WorkstationsSun Workstations contain a chip that stores its Ethernet address and hostid in a Non Volatile Ram, a boot PROM

The NVRAM has battery backup, the batteries fail over time. Once the battery fails the data in the boot prom is lost

Software licensing is tied to the hostid. It was necessary to program replacement parts to use existing licenses

SourcingIdentified manufacturers and vendors for replacement chips

New part programmingResearched and decoded the contents of the NVRam chipWrote a procedure that would allow the right data to be written into the right location of the NVRam

Sweep Voltage Start(Value)Swept Stop(Value)

Trig Timer DelayTrig Timer Both IntervalSwept MeasureDIM X(3)SET MPVI 1 TO FV 120V IMAX 100MA SHAPE DC SWEPTSET MPVI 1 SWEEP VOLTAGE START 80V STOP 120V POINTS 3SET MPVI 1 TO MI MAX 10MA DELAY 0MSSET MPVI 1 TRIG SRC FORCE TIMER COUNT 4 DELAY 0MSSET MPVI 1 TRIG SRC MEAS TIMER COUNT 3 DELAY 45MSSET MPVI 1 TRIG TIMER BOTH INTERVAL 50MSMPVI GATE 1 ONQUERY MPVI 1 IDLE INTO ZINIT MPVI 1 TRIG BOTHQUERY MPVI IDLE INTO Z (not necessary for 3 point array)FETCH MPVI 1 CURRENT RESULTS INTO XMPVI GATE 1 OFFTrig Timer DelayTrig Timer Both IntervalPoint 1Point 2Trig Meas DelayStep = stop val start val / points