Project Portfolio - S5 Solutions - Product Development, ATE, LabVIEW

Product Development Projects

Automated Test Projects

Unique Projects

Product Development Projects

Automated Test Projects ˅

S5 Solutions is still iterating every design phase and constantly improving performance. They’re really best of class. You couldn’t ask for a better group of people.

- Jennifer Wiens, Director of Product Management

HOCl Production System

The pandemic has brought many players into coordination to make a positive impact globally. Briotech made a quick shift in 2020 into manufacturing commercial liquid disinfectant dispensers using organic, nontoxic and food-safe ingredients. Composed of salt, water and Hypochlorous (HOCl), Briotech HOCl unlike bleach, ammonias, and alcohol, is non-irritating for skin or lungs, nonflammable and requires no Personal Protective Equipment to use.

Under a production time pressure squeeze, Briotech called in the S5 team to assist with software development and coordination with its cloud-enabled HOCl-producing machine, the BrioWhish, that would be shipped globally with data-sharing and monitoring back at company headquarters in Washington State.

Improved Ventilator Testing

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a lot of challenges. Our client had to significantly increase their production of ventilator testers to keep up with demand.

Changing only software, we improved test time by 30%.

Vehicle Data Collection System

This system was created to measure the retroreflectivity of the stripes on the road to ensure compliance with safety regulations.

A laser scans the road and takes high speed measurements at normal vehicle speed. Video is recorded with an overlay of the scanned data and map location of the scan location.

Upon returning the data is uploaded into a database. All the collected data can be viewed overlayed on maps through an online interface, which enables municipalities to maintain compliance and plan repairs.

The system uses three interconnected computers that work together to collect and process the data and video in real time.

Medical Production Process Control

The customer needed a system to control a complicated process using a cyclotron to create compounds used in PET scanning.

We created a system consisting of an NI Compact RIO Real-time embedded controller and multiple thin-client touch screen PC’s with interlocks for monitoring and control from a safe location.

Developed in LabVIEW using the S5 Solutions ALOHA framework.

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Countertop Template Digitizer

The customer had us design an electronic system to template countertops for replacement with granite.

We developed an embedded controller that tracks high-resolution encoders to accurately measure the kitchen. The controller connects via Bluetooth to a mobile app that captures the template data and sends it to the factory for cutting.

ALOHA Application Framework

ALOHA is a LabVIEW framework that is extensible. The modular design lends itself very well to team development. Programmers create simple modules that plug into the framework to add functionality, similar to apps on your phone.

We have released ALOHA free and open source.

The large scale systems we have developed with ALOHA have come together in a remarkably short time, and have shown excellent stability and scalability.
- LF, Crane Aerospace

UI / UX Design

We design interfaces that are easy to use and look great. But even more important is a design that makes the software easy to use and intuitive to understand.

(Image obscured at customer request)

Semiconductor Manufacturing Process Control System

This system controls a complex process for manufacturing a gallium nitride (GaN) and aluminum nitride (AlN) substrates. The manufacturing process is delicate, involving many steps, precise timing, and accurate control of base materials. Safety is of concern, since the process involves the use of poisonous gases.

The software is a flexible system created with LabVIEW. It integrates a large number of transducers and controls using DeviceNet. A scripting system gives the scientists the ability to tweak their process without updating the program.

Manufacturing Data Monitoring

This system monitors a manufacturing process in real time. In this case, it does not control the system, but watches many process variables to ensure that they remain in tolerance.

The data points are monitored via Ethernet-based DAQ devices, to it can easily spread throughout the factory floor and expand as more data points are identified for tracking.

Multiple front-end apps are used to get views into the data of interest.

Automated Test Equipment Projects

Product Development Projects ˄

Ventilator Test System

With increased demand for ventilators brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, our client had to significantly increase their production to match. While manufacturing was able to increase capacity with additional staff, the end-of-line test stations quickly became a bottleneck.

We attacked the problem from multiple directions which resulted in a time savings of 30% of the overall test time.

Consumer Product ATE

This project consisted of multiple testers for functional test of a large-scale commercial product. We designed and built the entire system turnkey, including deployment and support at the contract manufacturer site.

The boards have many different interfaces, including wireless Ethernet, IrDA, and MIPI video.

Automated programming and testing
Recording of parametric data for SPC
Remote data access to monitor CM

Automated Test Equipment is our specialty.
Let's get started with your ATE solution.

Aircraft LCD Panel Test System

We built a new software system on top of an existing legacy platform to hold down cost while increasing test coverage and speed.

Reduced test time, Increased test coverage
More automation, Reduced operator interaction
Interchangeable fixtures for multiple UUTs
5-axis control
Wide range of visual measurements: Luminance, Chrominance, Contrast Ratio, Positional Color / Luminance Accuracy, Color Accuracy over Multiple Viewing Envelopes

Aircraft Throttle Quadrant Test System

This test system automated the testing of a throttle quadrant assembly. As a manual process, it took as long as eight hours to complete, depending on operator experience.

The tester supports several different types of throttles. Each requires separate test procedures and connection hardware. The software and hardware is modular to allow support throttles for Boeing, Gulfstream, and Canadair.

Test time was reduced to under 30 minutes.

Base Test Systems

We have a number of base tester designs that we can use to get a quick start on your tester.

They are modular and easily configurable for a wide variety of UUTs.

Find out more details to see if this might be the right option to save time and money on your project.

Base Test Systems

Medical Research Vision System

This system was designed to allow the customer to evaluate a new technique of using an adhesive to assist in attaching tendon to bone. Operating under repeated stress of motion, the customer wished to capture the strength of the connection, looking for the failure point of the adhesive.

Accurate measurements are made in real time to watch the movement of the tendon during each motion sweep. An image is saved at the apex of each movement stroke and assembled together into a movie that shows the adhesive performance at the cyclic peak stress points. This provided a unique insight that cannot be observed visually in real time.

Medical Life Cycle Test System

This system was created as a research tool for the customer to analyze the performance of a product to enhance vascular surgical technique.

The system automates the process of monitoring a set of sample vessels. The system is capable of simulating a variety of physiological conditions to provide stresses on the samples. Unlike a human observer, the system is able to watch the entire process for days at a time and observe the very precise time and conditions of failure.

Unique Software and Systems

Some our most enjoyable projects have been some of the most unique.

Automated Test Projects ˄

Flight Simulator

This project involved custom hardware and software to interface real airplane controls to a group of 8 computers running Microsoft Flight Simulator.

The simulator allows the customer, an aircraft part manufacturer, to test prototypes and demonstrate them for customers in a very realistic but safe environment.

Lipless! Game

In the spring of 2016, a video went viral of a family playing a game with dental mouth openers.

It was so funny I wanted one immediately. But after searching online, the game didn’t exist. It had to be made!

With the assistance of LabVIEW, we were able to quickly create a game and bring it to market, beating big competitors by months.

Not only one of our most fun projects, it was also very profitable. We sold many thousands of games. It was our second largest projects of 2016!

Find Out More >

Computerized Museum Kiosks

This project involved overhauling the software for several kiosks in a health exhibition wing at a science museum. The systems were old DOS systems that were constantly breaking and had old, outdated interfaces badly in need of updating.

We gave them all a facelift with new LabVIEW GUIs and replace aging hardware with new computers and DAQ to increase reliability.

Animatronic Character

This is a project that was done for the Chicago Children's Museum Play it Safe exhibit. We designed and built Burt Burner, the animatronic oven mitt that teaches stove safety.

We also developed a method of storing complex movements as part of the audio, so there is no computer, which reduces maintenance problems.