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Blender consumer goods

Turnkey Automated Blender Test Cart 

Summary

A company that manufactures kitchen blenders contacted DMC to build two new test carts for end-of-line as well as R&D testing of their products. The client had some existing carts, but the software lacked features, the hardware was difficult to maintain, and the overall design didn’t support future expansions of their lab. The cart needed to run automated test sequences for power analysis and temperature measurements, as well as support digital outputs for triggering external lab components. DMC’s Test and Measurement team leveraged our experience in data acquisition, configurable test sequencing, LabVIEW programming, and DEWETRON hardware, to deliver a maintainable, expandable, and modernized test cart.

Solution

DMC’s solution leveraged different DEWETRON hardware platforms and a custom LabVIEW software application to create the blender test carts. The carts are approximately kitchen counter height, with an E-Stop at the top for ease of use in the customer’s lab. The blender under test can sit either atop the rack or next to it, with the entire cart controllable from a laptop. The cart was built to the specifications of several models of blenders, allowing switching between 2- and 4-pole motors as well as different amperage ranges up to 20A, with a design in place for a 50A version as needed. The cart is on casters, allowing it to be easily rolled around the lab to different locations, and the test configuration allows different channel setups, data limits, and displays to accommodate testing needs across the facility.

Figure 2 DEWETRON TRIONet3

TRIONet3 front end mini power analyzer

Figure 3 DEWETRON XR Modules

XR-modules channel expansions rugged robust

Figure 4 One of the Completed Test Carts with a Blender on Top

Test Cart with blender on top

DMC is also a long-standing NI partner, and we leveraged our deep LabVIEW programming experience on this project to deliver a high- quality solution.

The cart measures current, voltage, speed, and temperature, and displays them appropriately on the custom user interface. As a sequence is running, the UI shows the progress in addition to the live data. There’s a separate tab for viewing any alarms, such as application errors, e-stops, or out-of-range values, using DMC’s Alarm Handling toolkit.

There’s also a tab for customized settings, where the customer can specify the units, scaling, and type for each physical channel in the system, depending on what unit they’re testing.

Figure 5 A View of the Test Software with Sequence Monitoring, Data Plots, and a Live Data Table View

Sequence View Mockup with Plots

Conclusion

DMC’s expertise in a variety of hardware and software platforms made us a great fit for this consumer goods test system, and we’re always looking to do more. Our customer was pleased with how easy it was to switch over to the new test carts,and is excited about adding new features and expanding, already given the system’s flexibility for upgrades. Every product is different, and balancing streamlined features and maintainability with customization and expandability is a challenge DMC is always up for.

Learn more about DMC’s Test & Measurement consumer goods test system expertise and contact us for your next project!

Customer Benefits

DMC’s goal with this system was to improve upon complaints of the old system, as well as keep the architecture open for future expansion. Some key benefits that our test carts offer are:

  • Maintainability – the prior carts had messy and difficult-to-access wiring. With a cleaner wiring scheme and doors on the sides of the rack, as well as schematics secured to the inside of the doors, the customer can now easily maintain and calibrate all components within.
  • Ease of use – the original software was dated and not streamlined for running tests. DMC’s new software features include a clear and reusable configuration, modern UI, and a simple workflow that has allowed the customer to adapt quickly to the new software and simplify their testing procedures.
  • Expandability – the new test carts are built with several unassigned outputs, as well as software hooks for future lab expansion or test features. DMC worked with the client so that now they don’t have to worry about replacing the carts again in a few years, and can instead look ahead to what features they want added with a less investment.

Technologies

  • DEWETRON TRIONet3 – Offers flexible power analysis and control of additional DEWETRON modules for a fully-featured data acquisition system.
  • DEWETRON XR Modules – Leveraged for thermocouple data, which connect seamlessly to the TRIONet3 and our LabVIEW application.
  • NI LabVIEW – Provided the ability to easily make clean user interfaces, including plots, as well as develop a custom, lightweight test sequencing application.