Intermittent Fault Detection & Isolation System™ (IFDIS™)

The IFDIS™ uses patented Intermittent Fault Detector technology that simultaneously and continuously monitors every circuit path within a Unit Under Test (UUT) - such as a Line Replaceable Unit (LRU) chassis' interconnects - for intermittent continuity failures that occur for as short as 50 nanoseconds. This state of the art technology is combined with an environmental chamber and vibration table, which simulate the UUT’s operational environment and cause intermittent faults to manifest, creating a system that is unsurpassed in intermittent fault detection. 

The video below features a demonstration of an IFDIS testing an F-16 LRU, by our partners Universal Synaptics: following an introduction by Dana Ellis of the US National Center for Manufacturing Sciences, the test demonstration starts 2 minutes 52 seconds into the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv7M75W-pLQ&t=2m52s

Customer Benefits 

• $Millions saved in LRU maintenance  (over $70M saved to date on one F-16 LRU type)
• Time-On-Wing increased by over 300% (examples in military and commercial aviation)
• Well over 20X Return On Investment (the IFDIS pictured below paid for itself in under 6 months)

Technical Details 

• Able to test a large variety of UUT - from small cable harnesses to the most complex avionics chassis backplanes.
• Installed in 256 test point modules (1280 per 7U rack-space), the number of test channels is expandable in 256 test point increments (maximum of 20,480).
• Graphical test results show the precise locations of the intermittent fault for quick, surgical repairs of the problems.
• IFDIS™ automatically interrogates and store the as-designed wiring configuration for a good unit and then based on that "gold" configuration will detect any open, short, ohmic, impedance, drift or miswiring problem in subsequent UUTs.
• The IFDIS™ includes an environmental chamber capable of subjecting a UUT to a thermal environment of -100 degrees F to 350 degrees F in a precisely controlled manner.
• A 2,205 lbf vibration platform with a 2 inch peak to peak displacement and 78 inch / second velocity that includes a trunnion mounting, 13 inch diameter table, degauss coil, active suspension system and cooling blower with a 12 foot flex duct.
• IFDIS™ includes custom Interface Test Adaptation (ITA) which connects to all the chassis circuitry through both internal and external connections.  The ITA includes Form, Fit & Interface replicas of the UUT electronic modules.
• Tying the environmental system together is a master control PC, color laser printer, uninterruptable power supplies, a shaker expander head, hardware to interface the shaker and chamber, interconnecting wiring, miscellaneous hardware, and master control software which includes UUT configuration and environmental stress profiles.
• IFDIS Frequently Asked Questions

Test Functions

• Intermittency – detected to less than 50 ns on every test point, simultaneously and continuously
• Continuity – programmable continuity checks against referenced values
• LogScope  – instant display of a circuit’s or component’s stability
• Shorts – two modes providing shorts indication and shorts tracing capability
• Analyze – provides an impedance signature for the Unit Under Test
• AutoMap™ – rapid mapping of circuits for complex and/or ad hoc testing

What Performance Specifications does IFD Technology meet?

Where is it used and what for?

This test technology is available as the 19” rack-mount IFDIS™ with thousands of test points, and it is also available as the portable VIFD™ tester with 128, 256 or 512 test points (formerly known as the Ncompass-Voyager).  The table below illustrates the typical differences between IFD testing with the IFDIS™ and the VIFD™ at different maintenance levels and on different types of Unit Under Test. 

Who do I contact to find out more?

Contact us now to find out how IFD Technology can reduce the cost of support and increase uptime on your platform, equipment or systems.