Field Test
A field test is the validation of a product by running it on a real machine, vehicle or facility instead of in the laboratory, with real load, vibration and user behaviour. The common reasons why a board that works flawlessly on the bench gets stuck in the field are voltage fluctuation, cable length, temperature and an unexpected order of use.
The typical differences that emerge in a field test are these:
- Supply quality: in a system fed by a battery and an alternator, the voltage is not constant as it is on a laboratory power supply; the dip during cranking and the rise at load dump are seen here.
- Cable effect: instead of the half-metre cable on the bench, in the field there are tens of metres of cable; voltage drop and induced noise can only be measured here.
- User behaviour: the operator gives commands in an order the designer did not think of. Situations such as two direction commands at the same time or rapid direction reversal come out in the field.
- Environment: there is a serious difference between the inside of a closed enclosure in the summer sun and room temperature.
For this reason, in AXI products too the final step of validation is on the real machine. Keeping records during a field test is important: under which condition, for how long, with which symptom. A fault whose symptom has not been described cannot be corrected, because it cannot be reproduced.
The context in which this term is used: Our Services