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  • measX Test Rig Technology

Universal Automation for Endurance Testing

Customer: ANDREAS STIHL AG & Co. KG
Sector: Chainsaws and Power Tools
Requirements: Endurance testing at flexible test stations with a standardized operating and control environment
Implementation: Central application, custom solution in LabVIEW, TwinCAT PLC/Beckhoff, Visual Studio

Central Application for Increased Quality and Efficiency

The inital situation

A person uses a chainsaw to cut a branch off a tree trunk.© STIHLSTIHL is the world’s leading manufacturer of power tools. Its product range extends from chainsaws to hedge trimmers and cut-off saws to robotic mowers and is continuously expanding. At its headquarters in Waiblingen near Stuttgart, STIHL operates a state-of-the-art development center, including a large test field for endurance testing. A wide variety of endurance tests are conducted there in parallel around the clock.

The task

Increasing testing requirements and the need to test more and more devices in different configurations called for a more powerful yet standardized automation solution. The goal was a high-quality, highly flexible system with a uniform operating and control environment, remote monitoring, and automated data processing for offline evaluation.

The solution

A person at a test bench with a monitor.© STIHL

The universal test bench automation system is based on Beckhoff components combined with a custom-developed LabVIEW application for all measurement, control, and visualization tasks. The software defines and controls the entire test, including data acquisition, process monitoring, and product-specific limit value monitoring. A dashboard provides an overview of all test benches. In addition to real-time data, historical data for definable time periods is also available. Key parameters are calculated and initial basic evaluations are provided as PDFs even while the test data is being processed..

In practical use

The automation system is successfully used for endurance testing at STIHL test centers in Germany, Austria, China, the USA, and Brazil. The same software runs on all test benches, regardless of the hardware used. This provides STIHL with a powerful standard that will enable rapid adaptation to new test specimens and test requirements in the future. The system architecture secures and accelerates the entire process, from test formulation to result evaluation.

Want to learn more? Read the full case study.

 

Introductory image: © STIHL