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Pump Life Testing
The life cycle of pumps purchased for an assembly needed to be tested to compare to the product specifications. These pumps were a critical component to the pump system being manufactured and having an accurate life expectancy to work off of for stock and production was necessary, as well as to compare to other pump models for future purchase.
Role / Testing engineer
Date / Summer 2020
Skills / Arduino, Test design
Company / Equinox Opthalmic Inc.
How long will a pump last in product?
I was handed some custom PCBs, a sample of pumps, and a half-written Arduino code at the start of this project. The goal was to create a functional testing setup that would allow the pumps to run for an indefinite amount of time while they drew a specific amount of vacuum.
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Understanding the code and PCBs
My first step was to gauge where I was starting from by dissecting the code and PCBs. After a crash course in ARDUINO systems, and tracking down the spec sheets for the sensors on the PCBs, I could get to work. A lot of running the program and trying different plug ins all yielded the same conclusion: it wasn’t working.
Why wasn't it working?
I cycled through a list of different reasons, looking into the schematics of the sensors on the PCB, testing the pumps to know they were not the problem, looking into the pump’s interactions with the code, and a whole lot more.
The major issue: error calculations
With the help of a software engineer, I was to track down the main cause of error: the code’s error calculations. Rewriting the algorithm, as well as a few additional functions to allow the pump to correctly interface with the system, everything was able to run without fault.
Finishing touches
I calibrated each pump, making sure the value read on the manometer was what I was also getting from the recorded data. With everything operating smoothly, I outlined a clear test protocol and had a setup ready for testing.
Future uses
The setup can be run with the pumps currently in use to find their life span. It can also easily be altered, from a few lines of code, to work for different pumps. The test’s versatility is ultimately the most valuable aspect of this project, as new pumps that may be higher performance or more economically preferable can be validated and then phased into product.
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