Our team designed and built a test box to streamline the process of continuity testing for Saab’s manufacturing of an interface module (IFM).
Sponsored by: Saab Inc.
Team Members
Ben Kauffman Callaway Nutter Macguire Povlish William Schaumburg
Instructor(s): Dr. Jason Moore
Project Poster
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Project Video
Project Summary
Overview
Saab is an international defense company that serves multiple countries around the world. As such, Saab plays an important role in keeping many people safe across the world. The US branch of Saab is anticipating ramping up production on a few key projects, and our team was tasked with finding a way to automate some of the manufacturing tests they run at the location in Syracuse, NY.
Objectives
The primary objective of this project is to provide Saab with a concept for a test box that can be used to automate continuity testing for a variety of projects. Currently, Saab’s continuity testing is done almost entirely by hand, which can take a long time for systems that have complex wiring requiring upwards of 60 different tests to ensure proper function. The primary goal of the Penn State CWTI Team is to expedite this process to help improve the project’s scalability to larger production volumes in a way that is safe, efficient, and cost effective.
Approach
Held weekly meetings with our sponsor team at Saab to give progress updates and flesh out expectations for the project.
Attended a site visit at Saab’s Syracuse, NY, location to get a better look at what project our test box would be serving, and to meet the team that will be working with our design.
Broke the project down into three main components:
o Circuit enclosure
o Continuity testing circuit
o Customizable microcontroller code
Created and tested multiple prototypes and used feedback from the Saab team to make design decisions that would be implemented on the final product.
Outcomes
The team was able to produce a final product that serves as proof of concept for a continuity test box that will, hopefully, be impactful as Saab moves forward in their production. Our design involved a circuit that uses probes that connect to the circuit being tested and an array of LEDs that indicate if the desired voltage is met across the probes. This circuit makes use of an Arduino microcontroller, which can be easily coded to measure different voltages to cover a variety of different tests that Saab runs. This circuit is contained in a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic box that is nonconductive and sturdy enough to withstand the conditions inside the Saab facility.