Project Description

ECEN Capstone Team CocoControl was sponsored by Samtec on the Hardware Control Interface (HCI) to Automated Test Equipment (ATE) proposal. This automated, high-speed test equipment is used to conduct a bit-error-rate test on the FireflyTM, a fiber optics cable. Samtec’s engineers lack the ability to change the attenuation in an efficient fashion for less routine testing. The HCI test equipment addressed this issue providing manual controls for adjusting attenuation, including a touchscreen to display each of the 12 testing channels and multi-channel data transmission between the PC and number pad inputs for simultaneous control. Having real-time control over testing equipment without the need for a PC was able to save Samtec’s engineers time, energy, and money.