Robotic Process Automation-Based Functional Test Automation of High-Speed Analog-to-Digital Converter Customer Evaluation Boards

With increasing complexity and the demand for electronic components, evaluation boards that allow the customer to assess the components themselves are required. However, the evaluation boards are normally tested manually, and manual testing methods have challenges in terms of time efficiency, human error, and scalability. Therefore, we formulated an automated testing system based on robotic process automation (RPA) to address the issues. The system integrates RPA with existing testing hardware for high-speed analog-to-digital converter (ADC) evaluation boards to simplify processes of configuration, data logging, and the analysis of key parameters such as the signal-to-noise ratio full scale (SNRFS) and spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR). The current hardware setup was modified for automation to develop an RPA-based software solution for efficient testing, and its performance was compared with traditional methods in terms of time and repeatability. A marked improvement in test time efficiency was observed, with a reduction of up to 69.68% for inexperienced operators and 41.4% for experienced ones. The RPA-based method demonstrated a high accuracy (99.9603%) and repeatability, with minimal variance between test runs. The system provides an efficient and cost-effective test process that minimizes human intervention. This reduces process complexity for evaluation board functional testing, providing an effective solution to meet the growing demands of electronic components.