Abuse Testing Laboratory Management

Laboratory Management

Lab Management Goal

A&D’s Lab Management System provides the tools to transform a collection of test systems into a managed lab

A&D’s Lab Management Philosophy• Practical

• Use standards where it makes sense

• IT friendly

• Cover tasks necessary to take control of lab

• Plan for the future

• Open to all test systems

• Continuous improvement - New features as necessary - Evolve with IT infrastructure

A&D Lab Management Solution

Components

A&D’s Lab Management product line consists of:

• iCentral - core server component

• LabMinder - centralized notification/response system

• iView – test system interface component

• Mobile apps - Android app for remote monitoring

A&D Lab Management Solution

• The Lab Management Solution solves the following needs of a lab:–Store and manage test result data–Manage test system configurations–Remotely monitor test systems–Track and report test system utilization–Accumulate usage on parts under test–Manage security for the lab–Monitor/control state of remote unmanned test

systems–…and much more

iCentral Keys

• Provides the needed tools to turn a collection of test systems into a well-managed lab

• Scales to fit any size lab

• Multiple iCentral systems are linkable to connect distributed labs into a single managed system

• Easy IT integration

• Wide system support–A&D systems: iTest (all versions), ADAPT

(4.7+), CAS–3rd party support available

Test Data Storage Overview

• The test system stores result data in projects in iCentral–What are the ways that A&D provides to find,

retrieve and analyze the data?

• iCentral Web interface–Search options–View data file–View reports–Download to your PC and open directly in Excel

• Other options–RSS Feeds

iCentral Web - Search

To search for result data:- Open “Test Data” on iCentral menu- Select “Test Data Search”- Gets you to the “Test Data Search” page

iCentral Web – Search by Date

To search by date range:- Specify Start and End dates- Returns all data files within the given dates

iCentral Web – Search by Project

To search by project name:- Enter project keyword- Returns all data files from specified project- Partial project names recognized (i.e. “My”)

iCentral Web – Search by Meta Data

To search by Meta Data:- Meta data is stored with the file, test name,

operator, etc. can be used for search- Returns all data files that match search- Recognizes “contains”, “=“, “<=“, etc

iCentral Web – View Data

To view data in your web browser:- Click on the “View” button- Data file is displayed in your browser

iCentral Web – View Report

To view a report of the data:- Click on the “Report” button- Pick the report (templates created in iTest)- Data is displayed in your report browser

iCentral Web – Download Data

To download to your PC:- Click on data file name in the web interface- Select either “Open” or “Save”

To get directly to Excel:- Associate iTest data files with Excel (*.dat)- Select “Open” to open the file in Excel

• Search returns matching results from all sites

• Results includes link to original data

• Clicking link downloads data from server on which it is stored

– i.e. click link for data that is stored in Brazil, data is downloaded from Brazil

– Metadata and security remains distributed

– Queries forwarded to remote servers

Multi-Site Search

NOTE: These features are part of theiCentral “Enterprise” add-on W9200183

OptionalFeature

Other Options

• iCentral Data Miner client that can be installed on your PC– No license fee– Used to retrieve multiple files simultaneously – Simple plotting included

• UniPlot, the professional data evaluation tool – Rich plotting and reporting– Automatable

• Both packages can search/retrieve iCentral data– Interface very similar to the iCentral web interface

RSS Feeds

• iCentral updates RSS Feeds with each upload

• “All Projects” feed–Monitor this to know when a new project is

created on iCentral

• Individual project feeds–Monitor a project feed to know when a new

data file arrives on iCentral– Feed contains direct link to the file for

immediate download

StandardFeature

Test Data Storage Conclusion

• iCentral is the centralized data repository for the entire Lab

• It includes a rich environment to find, analyze and manipulate data

• The included iCentral Data Miner provides a convenient way to find data and bring it to the PC for analysis

• Uniplot is the choice for customers who need a rich data evaluation option

• Strong integration with Excel is standard

Test System Configuration

• iCentral manages three levels of test system configuration–Solutions–Modules– Files

• Solutions and Modules are imported and exported directly to iCentral from iTest Test Manager

• Files are moved back and forth via the provided iCentralLabFiles interface– Files are version controlled by iCentral–Web editors are available for common text file

types

StandardFeature

Solution and Module Management• Test Configuration

Storage & Retrieval– Integrates with iTest

modular architecture– Modules for instruments

and test cycles

• All test cells access same modules

• Test builder selects from module library– Pushes to library in

iCentral– Test cell retrieves directly

from iCentral• Reduce test

management task

StandardFeature

Configuration File Management• The configuration file repository is

organized as folders– All folders available to all test systems

• All files are version controlled

• Changes made via web or remotely

StandardFeature

Editing Configuration Files

• Editors available on web page to edit common A&D configuration files– Schedules, Picklists, INI, etc

• After editing, file is available to all test systems

StandardFeature

Test System Monitoring

• iCentral uses the iView web interface on remote test system– All live data uses web

ports– Easy to move through

firewalls

• Live data updates every two seconds– Low network impact

StandardFeature

Dashboard Views

• Dashboards display data from multiple test systems in a single view

• Any number of dashboards can be configured

• Channels and systems to monitor are all configurable

• Viewable on PC or mobile web browsers

StandardFeature

Silverlight Dashboard

iCentral has history buffer for data in

charts

iCentral has history buffer for data in

charts

Alerts watch for value changes

iCentral has history buffer for data in charts

Allows more static data in dashboard: Part Tracker,

Utilization

StandardFeature

Other Monitoring Views

Detail of single cell – live updates

Snapshot of single system - current operator screen

Utilization Overview

• iCentral tracks historical utilization of each test system• The channels that are monitored are

configurable• iView locally logs all changes to these

channels• iView periodically uploads the data to

iCentral– iCentral processes the data and tracks the time in each

state for later reporting

Utilization Reasons

• iCentral tracks both “utilized” and “unutilized” reasons

• Utilized is when testing is actually being performed

• Reasons are configurable in iCentral

• Test system fills these into the UUT Active Channel

Utilization Reports

• Many different reports available• Graphs• Spreadsheets• Data is exportable

as CSV

Part Tracker Overview

• iCentral can centrally hold data regarding units under test

• As unit moves around lab, manual data entry is eliminated

• Any number of part types can be tracked

• Any data about the part can be stored– Accumulation– Current value

Part Tracker Data

• Test systems uses iCentralWrite and iCentralRead commands– Put/get data to part

tracker

• New fields created the first time iCentralWrite is used on that field

• Historical changes are kept

• Transactions queued in iView in case network fails– Update order is

maintained when transactions applied

Security Overview

• iCentral manages lab-wide security

• Fine-grained control of rights and projects

• System administrator– Defines Users and Groups– Assigns user rights

• Propagates to test system• ID configuration

– iCentral internal– Windows Domain– Proxy Server

Other iCentral Features

• Test system parameter name management

• Central weather station server

• Test system calibration repository

• iTest license server

• External web page viewer

LabMinder Overview

• Modern DAC systems and their associated safety systems are already suited to safe, unmanned operations– The ability to monitor critical parameters and fast

reaction to limit violation will protect the test cell and often the test article

– Modern DAC systems can also be programmed to notify responsible parties when an event occurs

• What is missing?– A coordinated lab-wide system for managing notifications– A system that puts a remote human in the decision loop

when a failure is predicted

A&D Lab Management Solution

LabMinder Agent

• Each test system includes a LabMinder Agent installed with iView

• The agent monitors the health of the test system

• The calculated health metric is globally configurable in LabMinder– Can be locally configured in the agent

• The allowed response procedures are configured in LabMinder– Can be locally configured in the agent

• The agent communicates state changes to the metric and watchdog info to LabMinder

LabMinder SMS

• LabMinder sits inside the lab, not typically on company network

• SMS Modem is directly connected to LabMinder machine via USB–Responses to SMS messages are caller-ID

checked against notification list; rejected if not matched– Incoming message must match an outgoing

active notification; random messages cannot shutdown a test–Once valid response is received from authorized

caller-ID, notification is no longer active

• All activity logged

LabMinder SMS Notifications

LabMinder Email/Web

• LabMinder uses BLAT to send email via existing SMTP server–May or may not require authentication with SMTP

server (depends on IT policy)–Assumes LabMinder PC has SMTP outgoing port to a

SMTP server –BLAT is supplied with LabMinder 2.0

• Response is via temporary web page on LabMinder iView– Link only exists for active duration of the notification–Once proper response is received (either via web or

SMS), link is inactive

LabMinder Email Notifications

LabMinder Conclusion

• LabMinder is the key technology for managing an unmanned lab

• Provides a single point for managing remote notifications and responses to events in the lab

• LabMinder works with existing mobile apps: email, messaging, web

iView Overview

• The A&D Lab Management System has a common interface to all connected test systems: iView

• iView is included and installed by default with A&D test systems– iTest–CAS–BcTS–…

• iView is available with an open interface and SDK for third-party test systems

System Overview

Web Services

• iView provides a set of high level services as web pages

• Services include:– Pages for monitoring live data channels on the test

system

– Screenshot of the test system PC

– Report key diagnostics on the test system PC

– View log files

Interface Functions

• The key goal for iView is to provide the interface for the Lab Management system to the test system

• Interface functions include:– Get the value of one or more live data

parameters– Set the value of one or more data parameters– Get the list of all available parameter names

on the live test system– Execute a procedure on the test system– Upload test data to iCentral

Subsystems

• iView contains subsystems for the major Lab Management services that are allocated to it

– WebQueries – gets requested data from test system and formats as web page response

– UploadEngine – responsible for queuing and uploading test system data files

– LabMinderAgent – queries test system for critical parameters, calculates State Of Health (SOH) value, etc

– UtilizationCalc – monitors, logs and uploads utilization data from the test system

iView Subsystems

System Requirements

• OS Support– Windows XP (32 or 64-bit)– Windows 7 (32 or 64-bit)

• Disk space– ~50MB for application– More needed during runtime for queuing data

• Ports needed– Default port 80 for communication to/from iCentral

• Port is configurable

– Also need SMB/CIFS port open to copy files to iCentral Upload share

• iView runs as a 32-bit process on the test system– Uses credentials of user who started it

Licensing

• Each test system connected to the A&D Lab Management system requires one iView license– Included with A&D test systems

• For 3rd party systems, purchase:– W9200199 iView for 3rd Part Systems, which

includes• iView License• iView installer

– iView executables– iView SDK– Simulator plugin – provides working example of plugin– SDK documentation

iView Conclusion

• Customers with the A&D Lab Management System use iView to connect their test systems– iView is included with A&D products like iTest– iView with open plugin technology is available

for 3rd party systems

• This allows all test systems in the lab to be managed by one Lab Management system– Improves efficiency, reduces cost

A&D Mobile Apps

• iCentral for Android is the first mobile app– Contains monitoring capability similar to

iCentral dashboards

• Available to install via iCentral

StandardFeature

Android Monitoring AppStandardFeature

Android Monitoring App

• Connects to iCentral• Direct drilldown to

specified test cell• Shows preselected

channels– Channels update live

• User selects channel and begins to graph– History buffer access

in development now

StandardFeature

iCentral Specifications

• Server OS Required:– Windows Server 2008R2 64-bit

• Server Hardware Required:– Multi-core CPU– 8GB RAM– 160GB disk space

• Additional local or network data storage– Networking/firewall access to lab PCs

• All live iView data is web based (port 80/443)• Data files copied from lab machines via standard Windows file

copies to Upload share

• Other Considerations– Web/Database services typically run as local administrator on

server– If data stored on remote storage, ID for service must have local

admin on server and remote read/write to storage– Running iCentral on a VM is supported