Automated test products and solutions.

At Southern Manufacturing & Electronics (Farnborough GB, 10-12 February 2015), the Peak Group is featuring its range of automated test & measurement solutions along with probes, test accessories and bespoke software development capabilities.

Peak supplies a comprehensive range of test equipment, from simple test boxes used by subcontract manufacturers to stand-alone high-specification test racks and systems used in the aerospace and defence industries. As a National Instruments Alliance Partner, Peak supplies integrated test systems based on NI industry standard platforms along with interconnection hardware from Virginia Panel Corporation (VPC), for which Peak is the distributor in Britain.

New products on show include a range of VTAC High Speed Data (HSD) connectors for VPC's Mass InterConnect systems that offer data transfer rates of over 10 Gbit/s per differential pair. Rapid data transfer is ensured when the connectors are installed in VPC's 90 Series Module, which can support up to 34 VTAC HSD Connectors with two differential pairs or four single-ended connections. VTAC's HSD contacts are gold-plated for signal integrity and maximum reliability and are compatible with several industry standard connectors including USB 3.0, Serial ATA, HDMI, DVI and DVI-1, RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet, QSFP and Infiniband.

Also new are a range of test plugs for standard industrial interfaces produced by German manufacturer ENGMATEC GmbH. The plugs are designed to speed the production testing of electronic equipment incorporating interfaces such as USB, HDMI, RJ45 and eSATA. They have been specially developed for industrial-level automatic testing where plugs are frequently inserted and withdrawn. These automation-compatible test plugs are manufactured from abrasion-resistant plastic, with contact wires made of copper beryllium and glued into the plug body, and are suitable for operation for up to 200,000 mating cycles. Recently introduced test plugs include several types for the new USB 3.0 (SuperSpeed) interfaces as well as new versions for the eSATA (Serial ATA) interface, DisplayPort connections, and FireWire (IEEE 1394) connections.

Peak is also showing the range of Universal LightProbe Spectra USB Sensors from Optomistic Products, designed for the colour and intensity testing of LEDs. These small, highly versatile programmable sensors address many different LED test environments and requirements, including checking for a specific colour, or identifying the correct colour and intensity from a wide spectrum of colours, including white LEDs - while offering the choice of digital or analogue outputs. The latest version has a serial digital output and a sleek user-friendly USB interface incorporated into the sensor, enabling it to deliver a fast and simple serial-digital output directly to a PC.

Complementing Peaks test hardware is software from Simplicity AI: a specialist supplier of products and engineering services for test, measurement, control and automation, with a particular emphasis on developing automatic test and measurement software built around industry-standard platforms. The company's Tequra software suite aims to reduce the cost and risk involved with test software development, deployment and maintenance. The software also provides detailed insight into manufacturing processes and product qualit