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
Multi-Site Search
• 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
NOTE: These features are part of the
iCentral “Enterprise” add-on W9200183
Optional
Feature
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
Standard
Feature
• 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
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
Standard
Feature
• 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
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
Standard
Feature
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
Standard
Feature
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
Standard
Feature
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
Standard
Feature
Dashboard Views
Standard
Feature
• 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
Standard
Feature
Silverlight Dashboard
Allows more static data in
dashboard: Part Tracker,
Utilization
iCentral
iCentral
hashas
history
history
buffer
buffer
for for
data
data
in charts
in charts
Alerts watch for value
changes
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 callerID, 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
Standard
Feature
Android Monitoring App
Standard
Feature
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
Standard
Feature
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