Automotive test solutions
Discover how the automotive test industry ensures vehicle safety and
compliance while embracing cutting-edge technologies and innovations
For all of your automotive testing challenges, we have you covered
The automotive test industry plays a critical role in ensuring the safety, functionality, and reliability of the systems within vehicles. It encompasses a wide range of services and technologies aimed at evaluating and testing various components, such as wiring harnesses, sensors, control units, and batteries, to meet rigorous industry standards and regulatory requirements.
These tests are instrumental in guaranteeing that automobiles are safe for consumers, environmentally compliant, and perform reliably under various conditions. As the automotive industry continues to evolve with the integration of advanced technologies like electric and autonomous vehicles, the automotive electrical test industry is experiencing significant growth and innovation. Companies in this sector are constantly developing new testing methodologies, equipment, and software to keep pace with the changing landscape of automotive electronics. With the increasing emphasis on environmental sustainability and energy efficiency, the industry also plays a vital role in optimizing the performance of vehicles by evaluating battery systems and power electronics. Overall, the automotive test industry is essential for upholding automotive safety and performance standards while adapting to the evolving landscape of the automotive industry driven by technological innovations and sustainability goals.
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Check out our broad offering of automotive test solutions
Automotive pre-compliance testing comes with its own set of challenges. Staying up-to-date with constantly evolving regulations and standards can be complex and demanding due to rapid technological advancements, especially in electric and autonomous vehicles, leading to frequent updates in compliance criteria. Take a look at some of our solutions that help to address the growing challenges in the world of automotive pre-compliance.
R&S MXO4 series oscilloscope
The R&S®MXO 4 Series oscilloscope is engineered with spectrum analysis that enables fast and powerful analysis capabilities. It boasts an industry leading spectrum acquisition rate of 45000 FFT/s. This allows capture of spurious spectrum events, especially when doing EMI debugging. The RF characteristics of the instrument deliver great spectrum performance together with a synchronized time domain view. With the R&S®MXO 4 Series, you can experience protocol analysis innovation with its dual-path protocol analysis. You can set the instrument sample rate for the waveform path, and the oscilloscope will automatically use another internal decoupled sample rate for the decoding path. Even with very slow sample rates, the protocol data is correctly decoded. With conventional oscilloscopes, decoding would not be possible due to under sampling.
You can use the R&S®MXO 4 Series extended memory to capture more data packets. With a memory depth of up to 800 Mpoints, the R&S®MXO 4 can capture long periods of time where causes and effects are widely apart. During the entire capture, signal details are time-correlated with packet content for fast debugging. And with the automotive serial triggering and decode module your MXO4 can help you analyze CAN/CAN-FD/CAN-XL/LIN.
Shop now3000G X series & 4000 X series oscilloscopes
Uncover automotive serial bus errors faster
Modern vehicles contain hundreds of electronic modules and sensors communicating over a variety of serial buses with electronic control units (ECUs). Advanced technologies, such as collision avoidance and autonomous driving, require increasingly faster transmission rates that must be error-free across these automotive buses. These harsh environments that automotive electronics must operate in can induce unwanted transients and critical serial bus control errors.
With the Industry’s fastest waveform update rates and hardware base serial bus decoding, Keysight’s InfiniiVision oscilloscopes can uncover automotive glitches and serial bus errors faster that other oscilloscopes. Offering the broadest support for triggering on and decoding common automotive serial protocols, such as CAN, CAN FD, LIN, FlexRay, SENT, PSI5, and CXPI. With symbolic decoding of the CAN, CAN FD, and LIN buses based on importing DBC and LDF files.
Shop nowTesting for battery and power efficiency pose several challenges in the pursuit of reliable and efficient performance. Addressing these challenges is crucial to advancing EV and motor technology and meeting the demand for energy-efficient and sustainable transportation solutions. See how some of our suppliers are addressing these challenges.
NGU series source measure unit
Reverse battery voltage tests on electronic modules with automated testing capability
Electronic systems like electronic control units (ECU) must pass several stringent qualification tests in order to be approved for automotive use. These tests include a reverse polarity test which is specified as part of ISO16750 2. In line with the specification, the electronic module must withstand a negative supply voltage for a specific time without suffering any damage. The R&S®NGU401 source measurement unit (SMU) is ideal to perform this task, plus it provides automated testing capability.
The R&S®NGU401 source measure unit is ideal to perform standard compliant reverse voltage tests since it can operate in quadrants I and III. It can power the electronic module during normal operation, apply a negative voltage and current for at least 60 s, and return to normal operation when positive voltage is back. The test sequence can be defined e.g. by using the internal arbitrary generator, or programmed externally and applied via remote control. The measured voltages and currents can be used to support simple pass/fail criteria in an external test script. The R&S®NGU401 also provides a fast logging function with up to 500 ksample/s for voltage and current acquisition. The high sampling rate enables further, in-depth analysis. The voltage and current can be plotted over time in great detail using external tools. The instrument features full remote control capability, enabling automated testing
Shop nowNGM200 and NGL200 series power supply
Testing battery management systems with Rohde & Schwarz power supplies
Large batteries used in vehicles typically are constructed by combining multiple cells in series and parallel. This type of architecture requires extensive testing of battery management systems that actively monitor, control and manage various battery cell parameters including State of Charge, State of Health, fault detection, thermal and energy management, and much more. Since battery management systems play a crucial role in battery life and fail safety, they have to be tested thoroughly. The tests have to simulate all conditions that could possibly occur in operation.
The R&S®NGL200 and R&S®NGM200 DC power supplies from Rohde & Schwarz are versatile devices with all the functions required for testing and validating battery management systems. The R&S®NGL200 and R&S®NGM200 support two-quadrant operation as source and sink. All outputs are fully isolated against ground. They can be connected in series to emulate battery packs on a single cell level up to a maximum voltage of 250 V against ground. Current and voltage measurements at the power supply output deliver high-resolution values and all functions can be fully remote controlled with command processing times of less than 6 ms. In addition, the R&S®NGM200 power supply series features an optional battery simulation mode that allows realistic simulation of different predefined or user-defined cell types. In many cases, they can replace far more expensive dedicated battery simulators.
Shop nowDMM7510 and 3706A solution for battery cell open circuit voltage testing
Measuring battery cell open circuit voltage
Monitoring battery cell temperature
Precision voltage and current measurements are needed to determine the state of battery cells, modules, and packs – perhaps the most vital components in any EV. Battery cell open circuit voltage (OCV) is one of the most important measurements made on the cell during manufacturing. High quality, reliable, and safe battery production starts with high quality testing. The Keithley DMM7510 is a great solution for measuring open circuit voltage. The DMM7510 is capable of measuring with 7½ digits of resolution, which translates to microvolts on the 10 V range. This allows you to detect minute changes in the OCV and make determinations faster, instead of waiting for a significant change in voltage. The DMM7510 comes with USB, GPIB, LAN and TSP-Link connections to make test automation quick and easy. With 15 measurement functions including current and temperature, the DMM7510 allows you to make more measurements with less equipment.
For applications that require testing multiple cells, the Keithley 3706A system switch and multimeter may be an ideal solution. The 3706A mainframe has six slots that can be customized with a wide range of switch cards. For example, a 3706A with six 3720 Dual 1x30 multiplexer cards can be used to switch and measure up to 180 battery cells.
Shop nowN6705C DC power analyzer
Automotive power testing solutions
High-current motors, solenoids, and other components cause power system voltage transients and dropouts. The mission-critical nature of automotive electronics makes thorough testing of ECUs a must.
N6705C DC power analyzer can create engine crank profiles for lighting and ECU bench testing, a feature loved by major auto manufacturers. The N6705C with an SMU module can also perform accurate battery profiling and emulation for coin cell batteries like those used in Key FOBs. It is particularly adept at accurately measuring sleep and standby currents.
Shop nowAutomotive e-mobility testing faces challenges related to the safety and reliability of high-voltage electric systems, batteries, and complex electronics, necessitating rigorous protocols to prevent accidents and malfunctions. Additionally, the diversity of electric vehicle designs and components requires standardized testing methods to enable fair comparisons and certifications across manufacturers. Find out how our manufacturers are addressing some common challenges in this market.
5 Series B MSO oscilloscope solution for electric vehicle traction inverter and motor analysis
EV traction inverters solution
EV powertrain flyer
EV inverter and motor technology are key to the pursuit of Battery electric vehicle range. Oscilloscopes, probes, and special analysis software combine to provide end-to-end visibility into your traction inverter and motor designs. This solution combines a 5 Series MSO oscilloscope, software, and probes to create a high-performance system capable of fast and accurate analysis of the complex and dynamic PWM output of traction inverters, thus assisting engineers in optimizing traction system efficiency and reliability.
Shop nowAutomotive connectivity testing faces multifaceted challenges in today's rapidly evolving automotive landscape. In addition to ensuring seamless interoperability and reliable signal quality among a diverse array of devices and communication protocols, testing must grapple with scalability issues to accommodate the growing number of connected vehicles, maintain compliance with evolving regulatory standards, protect user data privacy, and ensure that connectivity systems remain reliable and cost-effective over a vehicle's long lifespan. Find out how you can address some common issues below.
5/6 Series B MSO solution for automotive ethernet
Automotive ethernet signal separation
Automotive primer in-vehicle networking
Automotive multigigabit ethernet webinar
Today’s vehicles generate vast amounts of data, supporting ADAS, infotainment and other advanced vehicle systems. Designer are moving away from legacy standards towards faster IVN standards such as Automotive Ethernet. Careful debugging and compliance testing are needed to ensure reliability and interoperability. The Tektronix 5/6 series MSO with automotive Ethernet software options and probes, validate automotive ethernet performance and standards compliance.
This solution offers users the ability to cut out the legacy methodology of automotive ethernet testing by implementing Tektronix Signal Separation. This modern methodology separates the full-duplex signal by looking at voltage and current waveforms from both the master and slave test points and provides separated signals using a proprietary software algorithm. Tektronix Signal Separation is a software-based solution that does not require cutting the Automotive Ethernet cable, enabling users to see the true signal. One of the advantages of this method is it displays Master and Slave signals without adding insertion and return loss and the deembedding impact of the directional coupler method.
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