Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/976095
20 SMT007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2018 electrification and the use of technologies like radar for autonomous driving, the implica- tions of test are significant. Autonomous driv- ing can be dangerous. There's a tremendous need to thoroughly test those systems. So, that also creates an opportunity for disruption, for a new measurement type and a significant market opportunity. With customers dealing with the chal- lenges of faster time-to-market, greater device complexity, more test cases, and less time to accomplish what they need to do, NI's abil- ity to provide a platform that enables them to quickly take advantage of new measurement techniques, with the measurement speed to handle the increasing device complexity, is a pretty compelling reason to adopt PXI," according to Hall. "Just to give you a history, 10 years ago, we saw customers doing 4G tests at the time. From 3G to 4G, we really started using automation in R&D for the first time. Because prior to that, you do measurements manually—when there was a two-band device, you just test one band, and then you test the other band. When we migrated from two-band components to 20-band compo - nents, the test component escalated to the point that automation become a critical factor. Some of the first and most compelling reasons to choose PXI had to do with measurement speed, because using PXI and automation, you can characterize a product in a few days, versus a few months it would have taken," says Hall. That problem is going to persist, so a plat- form-based approach with fast measurement speed and broad measurement flexibilities is the only way to address these challenges, according to Hall. "It's an exciting time to be working in the electronics industry. Technologies like auton- omous driving and 5G are pushing the bound- aries of what we thought was possible with technology. Ten years ago, you thought it was crazy. But now, I think it's an exciting time to be an engineer to work on some of these chal - lenges and solve them," Hall says. SMT007 Thermaltronics Discusses Smarter Robotic Soldering System At the NEPCON China 2018 show in Shanghai, China, Michael Gouldsmith, Director of Thermaltronics, discusses the innovations they made in robotic soldering systems. He also speaks about their hand soldering technology, which helps operators avoid tempera- ture overshoot while soldering. Click image to watch this video. Autonomous driving can be dangerous. There's a tremendous need to thoroughly test those systems.