DESIGN & SIMULATED TEST: TESTING
four large segments, inviting the user to set up a test, configure it, run it or view the results. As she progressed through the demonstration, I found it straightforward, engaging and even intuitive. This last quality is often used to describe software and rarelymatches the user’s intuition. But in the case of testXpert III, you could conceivably use your intuition to navigate through the process. That’s not to say it doesn’t require skill.
In the hands of, say, an accountant, a valid test configuration is very unlikely to be produced. But test engineers will have no trouble navigating the workflow to set up and configure a valid test program.
WORKFLOW APPROACH According to Zwick Roell’s Vinay Desai, one important factor that went into the development of testXpert III wasmaking sure itmatched the workflow of test engineers, operators and analysts in different environments, such as productions processes or laboratories. Commenting on the software design,
Desai says: “The workflow of the person using test development software was examined so that the click requirement for setting up a test isminimised.” However, it isn’t just the software
operator’s workflow that was examined. The test processes themselves came under scrutiny. “The testXpert III programis designed tomatch the workflow through the lab,” adds Desai. To demonstrate this,Mattielighova
showsme the process for setting up and configuring a fairly standardmaterial test in which the operator is guided through the sequence of parameters and variables that need to be defined. At each stage, only valid options are provided in a logical sequence. In this way, it is not possible for the designer to demand a test operation that is either impossible for the equipment being used or unsafe to perform. Setting up the test requires the definition
of the equipment to be used, the test to be performed and what load cells or sensors are being used. Once it is armed with this information, the software is then able to provide valid options for the next step in the sequence, configuration. Test configuration requires the input of
parameters such as speed and stroke length and the units ofmeasurement. This is also the point in the workflow that the expected results are defined as well as the reports that will be required. Once the setting up and configuration
has been performed, the defined test can then be handed over as a programthat can be run and reports can be obtained.
32 /// Environmental Engineering /// April 2017
The TestXpert III user interface is designed to be simple and intuitive
I askedMattielighova about access
control on the systemand how the test laboratory can be sure that once a test has been defined it cannot be adjusted or altered in any way by the test operator. She explains that testXpert III is
equipped with a usermanagement feature that can be used to create different user categories that have different levels of access to the software. In this way, it is possible to create profiles that can only run existing tests or can only access reports, as well asmore powerful profiles for engineers who have the ability to set up and configure new tests. However, at all levels of access there are
checks and balances in place to avoid misconfiguration. This is one reason why the “test setup”module is separate fromthe “configure”module. It is only possible to configure a test within the limits defined within the initial test setup.
MEETING THE STANDARD Recognising that a huge number of material tests will be performed against national, international or industry standards, testXpert III holds a library of more than 600 procedures that correspond to test standards. According toDesai, this simplifies the
process for setting up tests as the software operator can select froma library of pre- defined conformant test routines for a quick set up. “This is particularly useful in a production environment where conformance reports are needed for traceability,” he explains. Traceability is a key element in the four cornerstones that Zwick Roell emphasises as being requirements for valid, robust test processes.
Addressing a group of specialists
gathered at the International Forumfor Materials Testing, Jan Stefan Roell explained the emphasis the company places on the need for accuracy, reproducibility, repeatability and traceability. Even using the best test equipment, a
wide variation can often be seen in results acrossmultiple locations using the same test on the samematerials with the same equipment. Roell puts this down to machinery being either incorrectly or differently configured. Using testXpert III to set up and
configure tests which can be rolled out acrossmultiple locations removes the variability that can result frommultiple configurations.With reports that can be set up as part of the configuration and with user control and parameter setting that can be logged and recorded, the result is a test that is reproducible and repeatable and which retains the data that’s required for traceability. “Everything relating to the test,
including which user performs which actions, is recorded. No information can be altered ormanipulated and so it ensures the results are traceable,” concludes Mattielighova. Particularly suited for use inmulti-site
production environments for tests conducted against industry standards where traceability is a requirement, testXpert III enables tests to be designed and performed without the guesswork. EE
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