Crystal Instruments Spider-101i HALT/HASS Test Controller

HALT stands for Highly Accelerated Life Test, a stress test used to determine and accelerate product reliability and generally applied during the development stage of electronic equipment; its data lets engineers identify flaws or weaknesses in a product design. HASS stands for Highly Accelerated Stress Screen, a production screen built on HALT. Both procedures determine weaknesses in product design so engineers can address them and raise reliability.

Typical products undergoing HALT/HASS include cell phones, PDAs, televisions, printed circuit boards, resistors, capacitors and diodes. They are subjected to simulated environmental stresses that mimic and surpass conditions expected during use, including temperature cycling, repetitive shock, power margining and power cycling.

The Spider-101i is designed by Crystal Instruments for HALT/HASS applications. Its modules feature four voltage/IEPE input channels plus measurement channels for temperature and humidity. Output channels provide various signal waveforms to drive an electro-dynamic shaker, a hydraulic shaker or a pneumatic hammer. Six temperature control outputs and four humidity control outputs create a powerful HALT/HASS chamber controller, and the module also includes a built-in isolated digital I/O interface.

Programmable vibration ramps, gRMS level and test duration are all synchronized with the temperature and humidity control profiles, so thermal and vibration stress are applied on a single schedule. Typical temperature control is accurate to +/-0.5 C after stabilization. By combining vibration control and temperature/humidity control in one instrument, the Spider-101i delivers consistent stress application and data recording for both development qualification and production screening.