Mobile communication platform for test system applications

• US 10,445,202 B2
• Filed: 02/07/2013
• Issued: 10/15/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: MTS Systems Corporation (Illinois Tool Works Inc.)
• Original Assignee: MTS Systems Corporation (Illinois Tool Works Inc.)
• Inventors: Frenz, Andrew
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Jigar P
• Application Number:
  US13/762,282
• Publication Number:
  US 20130219218A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,441 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2294 by remote test
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/321 Display for diagnostics, e.g. diagnostic result display, self-test user interface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3664 Environments for testing or debugging software
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3668 Software testing software testing in telephone exchanges H04M3/242, testing of hardware G06F11/22
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]

Abstract

A mobile communication platform for a test facility to monitor various testing devices. The mobile communication platform is configured to transmit data or information to a remote test platform remote from a test facility or laboratory. In embodiments described, the communication platform is configured to interface with the one or more controller units to receive input or output data from the one or more test devices and transmit the input output data to the remote test platform via a messaging protocol initiated by the communication platform coupled to the testing device.

Claims

1. A mobile test platform for a testing system including one or more remote testing devices operated through one or more controller units through an input/output interface to provide input commands to the one or more remote testing devices and receive output test data from the one or more remote testing devices comprising

a communication platform including instructions on one or more hardware components configured to generate and transmit an outbound message, indicating that test data is available from the one or more remote testing devices, before any sending of test data, to a remote test platform having a remote data store, and to receive an inbound reply message from the remote test platform, in response to the outbound message, to transmit the test data to the remote test platform, the communication platform further configured to interface with the one or more controller units to receive input or output data from the one or more remote test devices and to transmit, after receipt of the inbound reply message from the remote test platform, the input or output data to the remote test platform in response to the inbound reply message to transmit data.

2. The mobile test platform of claim 1 wherein at least one of a mobile or remote computing device is configured to interface with the remote test platform to remotely access data from the one or more remote testing devices.

3. The mobile test platform of claim 2 wherein the outbound message from the communication platform initiates a communication sequence including a message from the remote test platform to poll one or more mobile or remote computing devices for requests for data and provide the inbound reply message to transmit data if the one or more mobile or remote computing devices polled requests data.

4. The mobile test platform of claim 1 wherein one of the outbound or inbound messages includes one or more requested data types and the communication platform uses the one or more requested data types to interface with the one or more controller units to retrieve and transmit the input or output data to the remote test platform.

5. The mobile test platform of claim 4 wherein the one or more requested data types comprise test status, test running time, cycles completed, force data, displacement data, interlock status, maintenance alerts, failure data.

6. The mobile test platform of claim 1 wherein the one or more remote test devices comprise one or more of a load cell, actuator and sensor devices.

7. The mobile test platform of claim 1 wherein the outbound message is triggered in response to completion of a testing cycle, elapsed time period or alert message.

8. The mobile test platform of claim 1 wherein the communication platform includes a summary algorithm configured to receive i/o data from the one or more controller units and generate summary data for one or more remote testing devices and transmit the summary data to the remote data store of the remote test platform in response to the inbound reply message to transmit data.

9. The mobile test platform of claim 1, wherein the platform includes a plurality of testing devices and the communication platform utilizes one or more facility or device identification codes or locator to transmit the data to the remote test platform.

10. The mobile test platform of claim 1 wherein the mobile test platform includes a maintenance module or tool configured to monitor a maintenance status of the one or more remote testing devices and provide maintenance status data to the communication platform to transmit to the remote test platform.

11. The mobile test platform of claim 10 wherein the maintenance module or tool uses damage unit calculations using algorithms to calculate the maintenance status.

12. The mobile test platform of claim 1 comprising usage tool or module configured to monitor usage of the one or more remote test devices and provide usage data to the communication platform to transmit the usage data to the remote test platform.

13. The mobile test platform of claim 1 comprising an alert module configured to set a system alert to detect a change in test status or completion of a test and provide an alert message to the communication platform to transmit to the remote test platform.

14. The mobile test platform of claim 1, wherein the communication platform is configured to transmit test data in real time during a test to the remote test platform once the inbound message has been received.

15. A mobile data platform comprising:

one or more platform modules or tools including instructions on one or more hardware components configured to interface with one or more controller units to generate summary data from i/o data from one or more remote devices; and

a mobile communication platform configured to receive one or more of the summary data and usage, status or maintenance data and to transmit an outbound message, before any sending of summary data or usage, status or maintenance data, indicating that summary data or usage, status or maintenance data is available from the one or more remote devices, to a remote platform having a remote data store, and to receive an inbound reply message from the remote platform, in response to the outbound message, to transmit one or more of the summary data and the usage, status or maintenance data to the remote platform.

16. The mobile data platform of claim 15 wherein the mobile communication platform generates the outbound message in response to a use or maintenance status change or event.

17. A method comprising:

transmitting a message to a remote testing platform to invoke a response to transmit data, the message indicating, without any sending of test data, that the test data is available from a remote testing device for transmit;

receiving the response to transmit data;

processing i/o data from one or more controller units of the remote testing device; and

transmitting the i/o data from the remote testing device to the remote testing platform.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the response to transmit data is generated based upon polling feedback from one or more remote computing devices regarding status of data requests.

19. The method of claim 17 wherein the step of transmitting the data comprises summarizing the i/o data from the one or more controller units and transmitting the test data summary of the i/o data.

20. The method of claim 17 wherein the message to the remote testing platform to invoke a reply message to transmit data is generated based upon a change in operating status of the remote testing device or completion of a testing procedure or cycle.

21. The method of claim 17 and comprising

implementing an alert function of the remote testing platform for the remote test device;

transmitting the outbound message to the remote testing platform to invoke a message reply to transmit an alert message in response activation of an alert; and

receiving the reply message to transmit the alert.