From the June 24 issue of NIST Tech Beat:
Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in cooperation with national standards organizations, have taken the lead in developing the first two standards for solid-state lighting in the United States. This new generation lighting technology uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs) instead of incandescent filaments or […]

The Series 3713 triaxial DC response accelerometers from PCB Piezotronics (PCB®) are designed for a variety of NVH and vehicle durability measurements in automotive and off-highway applications. For example, these accelerometers can be used for brake deceleration compliance certification; vehicle radiator and air cooler durability testing; roll stiffness/static rollover threshold tests; NVH testing; and […]

Standards Testing Laboratories (STL) will be offering its 2008 Tire Technology seminars at the company’s Massillon, Ohio-headquarters on June 3-5 and October 14-16. The seminars provide an overview of tire industry terminology, technology and the raw materials involved in the making of a tire, as well as the design, applications, compounding, construction and manufacturing processes. […]

Tire Review Online reports that Bridgestone China has opened a new tire testing facility in Yixing City, Jiangsu Province. The article notes that the facility includes a 900-metre straight section for high-speed performance tests and curved sections for performance and handling tests.

Assembly Magazine’s website recently posted an article on automotive leak testing. The article, titled “Leak Testing Supplier Solves Trio of Automotive Challenges” describes three applications:

a turnkey project for testing gear housings,
a leak tester to check brake caliper assemblies, and
a system for testing cooler assemblies.

It’s not a real in-depth piece, but it’s mildly amusing.

It occurs to me that it would be a good thing to be aware of what’s going on on the consumer side of things. That is, engineers should know how consumer organizations are testing their products and correlate those tests to the tests they run.
With that in mind, I’ve just come across two articles that […]

Standards Testing Laboratories (STL), an independent testing facility for tires, wheels and related automotive components, has upgraded their capabilities for Belgian Block Testing, an original equipment manufacturer (OEM)-mandated specification. This test evaluates the shock and vibration experienced by a wheel traversing a cobblestone surface.
These test services, which have been part of the company’s portfolio […]

The Popular Mechanics website has a great tip on testing battery voltage. Basically, what they say is that, if you want to use a standard voltmeter, you have to measure the voltage while the starter is cranking and while the engine is off.
They also show a dedicated battery load tester connected to a battery. […]

The Goepel Electronic CAN module USB 3052 is a plug-in card and comes with a stand-alone tool named basicCAN/USB. The intelligent module for automotive applications can connect to up to four ports. The user can also exchange information between all four CAN interfaces via an internal board network. The storage capacity is 2Mbyte RAM per […]

Standards Testing Laboratories (STL), can now perform dynamic cornering fatigue testing up wheels up to 28-inches in diameter and 20-inches wide. The company’s FM Machinery Division made this possible with an upgrade to one of its rotary fatigue test machines. STL is making this upgrade package available to other companies who wish to be […]