Automatic Test Equipment

The term Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) refers to the test hardware and its accompanying software. The hardware itself may be as small as a man-portable suitcase or it may consist of six or more six-foot high racks of equipment weighing over 2,000 pounds. ATE is often ruggedized commercial equipment for use aboard ships or in mobile front-line vans. ATE used at fixed, non-hostile environments such as depots or factories may consist purely of commercial off-the-shelf equipment.

The heart of the ATE is the computer which is used to control complex test instruments such as digital voltmeters, waveform analyzers, signal generators, and switching assemblies. This equipment operates under control of test software to provide a stimulus to a particular circuit or component in the unit under test (UUT), and then measure the output at various pins, ports or connections to determine if the UUT has performed to its specifications.  The basic definition of "ATE", then, is computer controlled stimulus and measurement.

The ATE has its own operating system which performs housekeeping duties such as self-test, self-calibration, tracking preventative maintenance requirements, test procedure sequencing and storage and retrieval of digital technical manuals.

Last Modified: 8 March 2006

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