A Digital Multimeters’ (DMM) has become a ubiquitous test instrument for production and manufacturing test. It’s a perfect tool to deliver precision measurements that meet the requirements of a variety of tests, including device characterization and functional tests that require voltage, current, and temperature measurements. As application requirements and technology evolve, DMMs have become smaller and more integrated with switches and other instruments to build multifunction test systems. With this evolution, have you considered how the trend toward modular instruments impacts testing?
If you haven’t considered a modular DMM instead of a bench DMM, ask yourself three questions:
1. How well does your current DMM communicate with other instruments in your test system? The PXI platform is optimized for low-latency communication between instruments such as switches, power supplies, and oscilloscopes that are commonly used in automated test applications alongside DMMs.
2. Does your application require features that are beyond your traditional DC performance? The latest modular DMMs can sample fast enough to act as a high-voltage digitizer.
3. How many channels do you need in your test system (today and over the life of the system) and how much space is required to reach the desired channel count? Modular DMMs integrate with high-density switches to provide multichannel acquisition systems in a compact space.
Read this National Instruments article to gain more insight into how DMMs are built for test
