The nipcbatt package contains an API (Application Programming Interface) for interacting with the NI-DAQmx driver and with LabVIEW runtime to perform measurement, generation and communication operations. The package is implemented in Python, as a highly object-oriented package.

Python PCB Assembly Test Toolkit or nipcbatt is a collection of Measurement Library, Automation Examples, Test Demo Example developed in Python along with Documentation for PCB Assembly electrical functional test.

nipcbatt package is focused on NI DAQ devices hardware, and compatible with NI PC Based DAQ, CompactDAQ, TestScale and high level enough to be applicable or scalable for other instruments with similar functionality and resources on any platform.

Refer to the Python PCB Assembly Test Toolkit - Getting Started guide for getting started steps including installation and setup procedures, and steps to run example test sequences. Refer to the User Manual for an overview of Toolkit concepts and measurement fundamentals, including a brief overview of each library and automation sequences.

nipcbatt supports Windows 10 and 11 systems where the supported drivers are installed. Refer to NI Hardware and Operating System Compatibility for which versions of the driver support your hardware on a given operating system.

nipcbatt supports Python 3.9+ (64 bit)

You can use pip to download nipcbatt from PyPI and install it:

$ python -m pip install nipcbatt

Visit ni.com/downloads to download the latest version of Python PCB Assembly Test Toolkit. It is recommended you continue to install the NI-DAQmx Runtime with Configuration Support and NI Hardware Configuration Utility from the Additional items checklist as it is required to access and manage hardware. All other recommended Additional items are not necessary for nipcbatt to function, and they can be removed to minimize installation size.

In order to use the nipcbatt package, you must have at least one DAQ (Data Acquisition) device installed on your system. Both physical and simulated devices are supported. The examples below use PC based DAQ device (PCIe-6353). You can use NI MAX or NI Hardware Configuration Utility to verify and configure your devices.

Finding and configuring device name in NI MAX:

Finding and configuring device name in NI Hardware Configuration Utility:

Then refer to the Validation examples and Automation sequences to start testing. Refer to the Getting Started Guide for information.

All the measurement libraries consist of three main methods which have to be used in the following order:

• Initialize:

  Used to initialize a DAQmx using either physical or global virtual channels provided to perform the respective task.

  This is done by calling the intialize() method on the class instance.

Example code to initialize an instance of DRVG to generate a DC Voltage:

>>> import nipcbatt
>>> drvg = nipcbatt.DcVoltageGeneration()
>>> drvg.initialize(analog_output_channel_expression="Sim_PC_basedDAQ/ao0")

• Configure and Generate/Configure and Measure:

  Configures, Initiates and Measure/Generate for an input/output task respectively. Also, can return raw data for external custom post analysis and measurements from embedded analysis(selectable/optional)

  This is done by calling the configure_and_measure()/configure_and_generate() method on the class instance.

Example code to configure and generate DC voltage using the class instance:

>>> drvg.configure_and_generate(nipcbatt.DEFAULT_DC_VOLTAGE_GENERATION_CONFIGURATION)
... # Default generation voltage is 1.2V, Defaut Range is [-10.0, 10.0]

• Close:

  Closes the DAQmx tasks and clears resources.

  This is done by calling the close() method on the class instance.

Example code to close the task and clear resources after generation:

>>> drvg.close()

• Virtual Channels

  Virtual channels, or sometimes referred to generically as channels, are software entities that encapsulate the physical channel along with other channel specific information (e.g.: range, terminal configuration, and custom scaling) that formats the data. A physical channel is a terminal or pin at which you can measure or generate an analog or digital signal. A single physical channel can include more than one terminal, as in the case of a differential analog input channel or a digital port of eight lines. Every physical channel on a device has a unique name (for instance, cDAQ1Mod4/ai0, Dev2/ao5, and Dev6/ctr3) that follows the NI-DAQmx physical channel naming convention. Refer to NI-DAQmx Channel for more information.

• Logger

  The logger is a feature which comes along with the package as a part of PCBATT Utilities and helps in storing configuration details and results for every run of the sequences. It can be used to store results in the .txt or .csv file formats. The logger stores results for every run in the same file. Example usage of the logger can be found in the automation sequences.

• Save Traces

  This Utility works in a similar manner as the logger but it saves configuration settings and results for each run in separate files. Example usage of the save_traces module can be found in the validation examples.

Validation examples are created as examples for testing and validating a pair of libraries together, where one library is used for generation and another for measurement. The validation examples can be found in this location pcbatt_validation_examples.

The following images shows sample results for Signal Voltage Generation to Frequency Domain Voltage Measurement Validation example which is located at "/pcbatt_validation_examples/PCIe_examples/PC_SVG_FDVM.py":

Automation sequences are examples of using libraries for real time scenarios like microphone tests, LED tests and so on. Automation sequences are tested in simulation mode.

Following is the list of Automation Sequences provided as a part of the package.

1. action_button_tests
2. audio_tests
3. communication_tests
4. digital_io_tests
5. led_tests
6. microphone_tests
7. power_supply_tests
8. sensor_tests
9. synchronization_tests

The Automation Sequences can be found in this location pcbatt_automation.

FT demo sequence is an example for creating a test sequence using libraries with applying test limits on the results to determine whether the test is a pass or a fail.

Please refer to the FT Demo Sequence in the location pcbatt_ft_demo_test_sequence.

To report a bug or submit a feature request, please use GitHub Issues.

nipcbatt is licensed under an MIT-style license. Other incorporated projects may be licensed under different licenses. All licenses allow for non-commercial and commercial use.