This post is by Graham Andrews, Analysis Commercial Manager at TRaC.
I've heard engineers say that the test and certification industry is dull, simply requiring the latest consumer item to be plugged into a standard test rig, but although there can be some repetition in the job, much of what we do is new, interesting and challenging.
A recent project involved testing the impressive Sampson Radar that BAE Systems Integrated System Technologies developed for HMS Dauntless, one of six new Type 45 destroyers which will provide the backbone of the UK's naval air defences for the next three decades.
Continue reading "Certification & Test: How am I going to test that?" »
Welcome to a new series of posts on the topic of test and certification. This post is by Chris Rouse, Safety Manager at TRaC.
We all use a large number of electrical items that work reliably and safely every day. As problems are so rare many people get blasé about the need for electrical safety regulations, but recently I saw some sobering statistics.
I was shocked to see UK government figures showing 17% of all fires in domestic premises in England and Wales are caused by electrical faults (resulting in 15 deaths and around 1100 non-fatal injuries).
Continue reading "Certification & Test: Electrical safety is still important!" »
Welcome to a new series of posts on the topic of test and certification. This post is by Chris Stone, Environmental Test Manager at TRaC.
When engineers ask me why companies bother with shock and vibration testing, there are three main reasons that I always cite: reliability; functionality and structural integrity.
You want the equipment to be reliable, to continue to function correctly and - to put it bluntly - you don't want it to fall apart.
Continue reading "Certification & Test: Why bother with vibration testing?" »
Welcome to a new series of posts on the topic of test and certification. This post is by Chris Stone, Environmental Test Manager at TRaC.
I'm meeting more and more engineers whose equipment is being subjected to earthquake testing. Even in the UK there is a risk of earthquakes; there is even a page tracking recent seismic activity on the
British Geological Survey's website.
Although our earthquakes are pretty low down the Richter scale, they generally have significant energy content at the higher frequencies (10 to 40Hz) in critical applications where failure can be disastrous (e.g. nuclear power plant) or expensive (e.g. telecommunications equipment that must achieve "five 9s" uptime), earthquake testing makes sense.
Continue reading "Certification & Test: Do I really need earthquake testing?" »
Welcome to a new series of posts on the topic of test and certification. This post is by Chris Stone, Environmental Test Manager at TRaC.
What's the difference between earthquake and vibration testing?
When Engineers are told that their design will have to withstand seismic events and are faced with designing for and carrying out earthquake testing (see my
previous post about how this is increasing), it is often their first experience of this test regime and at first glance, the complicated test specifications are a real cause for concern!
Most Engineers have some experience of vibration testing and understand acceleration levels and the frequency of vibration but Earthquake testing is commonly specified by Required Response Spectra (RRS) as the tests are typically simulating events that are over in 30 seconds but involve large displacements at low frequency.
Continue reading "Certification & Test: Differences between earthquake and vibration testing?" »
Welcome to a new series of posts on the topic of test and certification. This post is by Jon Harros, ZigBee Business Manager at TRaC.
In September of this year, the
ZigBee Alliance announced the successful certification of the first two
ZigBee RF4CE platforms and the release of the ZigBee RF4CE specification.
Now the focus has turned to the first ZigBee RF4CE interoperability profile which is intended to service the Consumer Electronics Remote Control (CERC) market.
From a regulatory safety point of view, the timing of this is interesting and leaves a number of people wondering what they should be assessing against.
Continue reading "Certification & Test: Safety - it's a complex business!" »
Welcome to a new series of posts on the topic of test and certification. This post is by Jon Harros, ZigBee Business Manager at TRaC.
We often get asked what the purpose of a Notified Body is within Europe for
R&TTE (Radio and Telecommunications Terminal Equipment),
EMC Directive and
Low Voltage Directive (LVD), given that legal compliance for a product is done by self-declaration. Hopefully the following will provide an insight...
A Notified Body is a legal entity (typically this means a company) appointed by the European Commission via an individual country's national authorities.
Within the legal entity, specific individuals are appointed as authorised Signatories and are regularly assessed to ensure technical competency.
Continue reading "Certification & Test: What's the point of a Notified Body?" »
Welcome to a new series of posts on the topic of test and certification. This post is by Joe Lomako, Bluetooth Business Manager at TRaC.
Although most engineers working with short range wireless understand the difference between the
ZigBee (ZB) and
Bluetooth (BT) standards, many still ask about the difference in the testing and approval process. There are several differences, starting with the terminology - ZB products must be "certified", whereas BT products are "qualified".
In both cases, the approval means that the products can use the relevant logos.
Testing for ZB and BT is somewhat different, and can vary depending on whether it is a chipset, module or end products. Bluetooth chipsets, modules or end products also require "RF testing". RF Testing is the most common type of test and typically takes about 60 hours worth of test time.
Continue reading "Certification & Test: The difference between Bluetooth and ZigBee testing?" »
Welcome to a new series of posts on the topic of test and certification. This post is by Steve Hayes, EMC & Safety Managing Director at TRaC.
Is the spectrum above 1GHz open for anyone, just like the old Wild West?
EN55022:2006 introduces radiated emission requirements above 1GHz for the 1st time, but the delay in withdrawing the old 1998 version, means that there are no test requirements above 1GHz.
Continue reading "Certification & Test: Is above 1GHz the new Wild West?" »
Welcome to a new series of posts on the topic of test and certification. This post is by Jon Harros, ZigBee Business Manager at TRaCIn the last month, the number of approved products listed on the
ZigBee website has doubled, and my company has also seen a massive growth in the number of products being submitted for certification. What has caused the sudden interest?
I think it's down to the maturing ZigBee certification process, and specifically the introduction of new certification routes for some of the key standard profiles.
Until the introduction of the SE profile last year, ZigBee products could only be certified with manufacturer-specific profiles, pretty much guaranteeing that one manufacturer's products would not work with anyone else's devices.
Continue reading "Certification & Test: Where have all the ZigBee products come from?" »
