AMETEK Programmable Power recently announced that Sam Hughes would be returning to the business as Vice President and Business Unit Manager. Sam is returning to Programmable Power after spending the last year as the Business Unit Manager for IntelliPower, where he led their successful integration into the AMETEK family. Prior to his time with IntelliPower, Sam served as Director, Global Services for AMETEK Programmable Power from 2019 to 2021.

Choosing the right power supply for your test system or application is no small task. Defining the power requirements for your application comes first, but this is only the beginning. Once you know the voltages and currents, you need to figure out how to power and control your source. There are several decisions that will need to be made.

When it comes to communications and cellular equipment, change is inevitable. Every month or so, new phones come out with new features and technology, making older models obsolete. Even the cell towers themselves are being regularly reconfigured to optimize networks.

You need better sensors. Why? Because a single bad sensor could cause your functional tests to fail, wasting millions of dollars if you are testing something like a missile or a jet engine in a one-shot destructive test. A failed test is not even the worst-case scenario. Imagine what is at stake if a bad sensor gives you a false positive, leading to your device failing out in the field – all of which could have been avoided by getting the right sensors.  

Functional tests are critical to product qualification, ensuring that your systems work like they are supposed to. That is why specifying better functional test equipment is key to creating better products. Without the right equipment to power your functional tests, you can’t guarantee the quality of your products, and your systems may fail unexpectedly out in the field.  

For many structural engineers, the VTI Instruments EX1403 Precision Bridge and Strain Gauge Instrument from AMETEK Programmable Power is the go-to solution for complex test applications. One reason why is that it’s very easy to programmatically configure the built-in strain gauge excitation sources. So there’s no need to manually reconfigure hardware to make measurement changes. In addition, the VTI EX1403 can internally convert the voltage and current measurements to strain or resistance measurements.

Testing that requires the use of strain gages often consume large amounts of resources and effort to prepare for. One way to reduce the amount of time and energy spent configuring a test is to use sensors that support the Transducer Electronic Data Sheet (TEDS) interface. Many VTI measurement instruments support TEDS sensors including the EX1629 48-channel high-performance strain gage measurement instrument, EX1403 16-channel bridge/strain gage instrument, and the RX1024 24-channel bridge/strain gage instrument.

A jet engine is the very definition of “mission-critical.” A critical failure could cause a serious accident that endangers hundreds of lives. To prevent this from happening, manufacturers perform extensive testing on jet engine components, systems, and manufacturing processes.

Jet engine tests involve subjecting the unit under test to extreme temperatures, jets of water, simulated hail, severe vibration, and other harsh conditions. Sometimes test engineers even slam chicken carcasses against engines to simulate bird strikes. These tests can be very costly and take years to develop. Engineers must measure many different parameters during these tests, including temperature, flow, pressure, rotation, strain, and vibration.