Testia announces Box concept data acquisition and SDK
11/01/2021
Testia, an Airbus Company, is supporting innovation and research for industrial applications by developing technology and solutions that stimulate innovation for the industry as a whole. Its current acquisition systems portfolio, comprising the multi-method UE1 Box and phased array U32 Box, is now open to those who need to exploit their flexibility to meet multiple technical specifications and accomplish different inspection goals, all within the same device.The current economic context is pushing industrial players and research and development (R&D) centres to concentrate their efforts on improving the efficiency of all their activities, maintaining value delivery and thus improving their competitiveness. The challenge for them is to find practical, cost-effective and reliable platforms to train their personnel, conduct experiments, perform tests and integrate the outcomes into industrial operation.
The Box concept was conceived to deliver hardware and software on embeddable units. This architecture allows operators to define the most suitable NDT inspection methods for their operations, whether it is a desk job, a remote task or a large machine.
The UE1 Box device allows operators to perform ultrasonic testing (UT) and eddy current testing (ECT), including boreholes with rotary probes and/or resonance data acquisition, all in one. It is said to be suitable for testing any type of material for defect detection, material characterisation, thickness assessment, etc.
The U32 Box device is dedicated to phased array ultrasonic data acquisition and also includes conventional UT. With its 32 elements, it is suitable for ultrasonic inspection automation of aerospace parts as well as for other applications.
In response to today’s challenges, Testia is focusing its efforts on delivering smart and scalable solutions; this means that users of this equipment now can shift from just operating the device to interacting directly with it.
Thanks to the dedicated software development kit (SDK) packages, users can directly drive the associated software to give precise instructions to the box and manipulate its functions in a very flexible way. This capability allows users to fully exploit the equipment’s features to their maximum. The applications for this technology extend exponentially, because operators can use the device from a traditional NDT acquisition system for specialised tests in research centres or for training purposes up to a dedicated device for production line applications.
For instance, this solution is already being used on many of Testia’s customers’ sites for in-line assessment of elementary parts and/or finished products and on new manufacturing process lines, but one client is also utilising it in an ongoing collaborative R&D project for automated combined NDT inspection methods for metallic parts.
The customisable SDKs provide a set of functions that allow Testia’s Box to be dynamically controlled via the customer’s current software. They are categorised and organised by type, such as Initiators, Getters and Setters, to ease their adoption by the developer. The tree architecture permits to quickly picture and access all the functions available in the library in order to design the acquisition software, quickly implement the workflow and obtain instantaneous results.
Coupled with the detailed documentation, examples and support, it has never been easier for operators to create their own software.
www.testia.com
