Published October 1999

TESTING 1, 2

Part 4: Immunity—Not for Circuitry
by George Novacek

Start • Interference Levels • Let the Lightning Strike • Ready To Go? • Sources and PDF

READY TO GO?

I’ve gone over concerns you need to keep in mind if your product is going to work not only on the bench, but in the real world. Although I focused on the aerospace industry where the need for tight, well-defined controls may be overwhelming because of safety requirements, the principles are applicable to every design that operates outside an engineering lab. As you’ve seen, achieving reliable performance requires just as much or even more engineering effort as designing a prototype.

The question with design is not whether it will fail, but when. It’s our responsibility as engineers to ensure that when it fails, it does so in an orderly, predictable manner.

If you think that thorough environmental and EMC testing is an expense you can’t afford, remember it will cost many times more in the returned product, lost reputation, and lost business.

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