Electronic Tester

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29239, 24 June 1960, Page 17

Electronic Tester

A new testing technique announced in Coventry recently by the Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Company will help to produce safer, quieter, and cheaper cars. The new development, known as Dydas, has been made possible by rocket research and involves the application of the science of telemetry to the testing of vehicles and stationary machines. The only equipment needed inside the car to test it with the vehicle telemetry system is a little black box. Transmitting equipment gives readings from up to 24 different points on the car relayed to a ground station while the car is in motion. Shorter Testing This system will enable months to be cut off the testing of new cars. Using the techniques that are employed in earth satellities to send back information from outer space, Dydas enables a car designer to gather as much information about the car’s performance in ten minutes as he would normally get in ten weeks. The system enables measurements of various physical factors such as strain, pressure, vibration and temperature to be taken in different positions while the car is in motion. Measurements are transmitted back to a static receiving station where they are processed as graphs of figures to give a continuous picture of performance. Almost any part of the car can be tested and a great number of readings can be taken every minute.

When the signals are received, they are sorted out and the weaker ones amplified. The results are fed into a computer and the performance of the car’s.components emerge.