A general-purpose valve test rig serving multiple valve types needs a test programme abstraction layer that separates the test logic from the specific hardware interfaces. Here's an architecture pattern for that.
Test Programme Abstraction
At the core of the design is a shared test programme interface that every test type must implement. This base interface defines two required behaviours: a method that runs the actual test sequence against the hardware, and a method that interprets the resulting data against specification limits to determine a pass or fail outcome. Keeping these two responsibilities separate, rather than mixing execution and judgement in one block, makes each test type easier to validate and easier to extend.
Built on top of this shared interface, an endurance test programme implements the cycling logic: it commands repeated actuation of the valve for a specified number of cycles while logging response characteristics over time, then evaluates pass or fail based on whether performance has drifted outside acceptable bounds as cycle count accumulates. A hysteresis test programme implements a different sequence: it commands the valve through an increasing-then-decreasing command profile and compares the response curve in each direction, evaluating pass or fail based on how closely the two directions track each other.
Pull-In and Drop-Out Testing
A third test type, the pull-in/drop-out test programme, is built around a voltage sweep helper that incrementally steps the electrical excitation up or down while monitoring the valve's actuation state. The forward sweep identifies the pull-in threshold — the voltage at which the valve transitions from rest to actuated — and the reverse sweep identifies the drop-out threshold where the valve releases back to rest. Its pass/fail evaluation checks both thresholds against the specification limits and confirms there is adequate margin between the thresholds and the valve's expected operating voltage range.
Test Programme Registry
Rather than hard-coding which test runs when, the architecture uses a registry that maps test names to their corresponding test programme instances. A single test suite runner function then takes a valve identifier, a list of test names to run, the hardware interface, configuration parameters, and the specification limits, and works through the requested tests in sequence — invoking each one's execution method and then its evaluation method, and compiling the results into a single report for that valve.
This abstraction allows the Neometrix Valve Test Rig to support new valve types and test protocols through configuration rather than hardware or software redevelopment.