Test station controller replacement using commercial products

Some existing test stations have controllers which have become obsolete or difficult to maintain. The controllers may be replaced by commercially available hardware and software. However, existing Test Program Sets (TPSs) may not run on the new platform without modification. Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) is evaluating the feasibility of replacing the existing controller in the Depot Automatic Test System for Avionics (DATSA) test stand with a personal computer (PC). Commercial software products which can replace the old Modular Automatic Test Equipment (MATE) operating system will be evaluated. Since many TPSs use Non-ATLAS Modules (NAMs), further testing will be done with TPSs using NAMs rehosted to the PC environment. Compatibility problems between existing TPSs and the proposed new configuration will be identified and the overall cost of replacing the DATSA controller will be analyzed.>