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Qualtech Systems, Inc. (QSI) Completes Successful Pilot Study on NASA Space Shuttle Wiring Diagnostics

Wethersfield,CT July, 2000 Qualtech Systems, Inc, (QSI)....announces that it has recently completed a very successful pilot study on Space Shuttle wiring diagnostics. The project was commissioned by the Wiring Integrated Research (WIRe) team at NASA Ames Research Center. The project utilized QSI’s TEAMS (Testability Engineering and Maintenance System) failure modeling tool to explore means of automatically extracting high fidelity failure models from the Space Shuttle wiring database.

QSI developed an open interface to the SCAN (Shuttle Connector Analysis Network) database to import the necessary information about modules, connectors, wiring harnesses, jumpers etc. and automatically generated detailed TEAMS models of all the wire harnesses of a Space Shuttle subsystem. The methodology is easily extensible to the entire shuttle wiring system. Failure modes modeled include pushed pin and bent pins of connectors, opens and shorts of conductors, high voltage dielectric breakdown and impedance mismatch and noise pickup due to cable degradation. Tests modeled include continuity and isolation checks, resistance and impedance measurements, and "dielectric withstanding voltage" tests. To perform these tests one or more connectors have to be de-mated and the test equipment has to be connected to the open connectors. The mating and de-mating of connectors was modeled using switches and modes. Thus, TEAMS could assess the test coverage and fault isolation of the wiring system given the mate/de-mate status of the connectors, as indicated by the SCAN database.

QSI also demonstrated the use of these models by the TEAMATE expert reasoner tool to guide a technician through a systematic testing procedure to achieve maximum fault coverage while minimizing test cost and times. The TEAMATE runtime software supports thin clients (e.g., wireless handheld devices) and can be conveniently used to instruct and track test procedures and configuration changes of the wiring system. TEAMATE can also be utilized to guide multiple concurrent automated testers to improve test efficiency.

About QSI:

QSI provides leading, state of the art diagnostic tools and engineering Services. QSI’s Integrated Diagnostic Toolset consists of TEAMS, TEAMATE, TEAMS-RT, and TEAMS-KB. Further information on QSI software products and services can be found on the QSI web site, www.teamqsi.com