Transcript

Environmental Testing for the Bolt

Next up is environmental testing for the Bolt. We will take the Bolt and run it up and down in temperature with this environmental chamber, which is a controlled temperature and controlled humidity system. That’s remotely programmable through our test and calibration software.

We have a three-phase AC power supply which can put precise voltage and current waveforms to the Bolt under test. We are going to feed that into the Bolt when it’s in the chamber and start at -40 degrees, let it soak for an hour with the Bolt off so that it’s the lowest temperature possible inside the Bolt, power it up, and then run it through every current range that it has: the 100-amp range, the 1,000-amp range, the 5,000-amp range. We put various precise currents into that and also test the voltages. We’ll step it from 80 volts to 600 volts.

We’ll show you the -40, show you the 140, and show you the extremes so that you can see how we do the environmental testing for the Bolt itself. We’ll make sure that it’s accurate and meets its accuracy specs from -40 degrees Fahrenheit to 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

Temperature Steps and Data Logging

We’re going up 20 degrees at a time, so we go from -40 to -20 to 0 degrees Fahrenheit, all the way up to 140, letting it soak for half an hour at those new temperatures and then powering it up and taking readings at all the current levels and current ranges and all the voltages from 80 volts to 600 volts.

That data is then logged and we check it for accuracy to make sure the Bolt meets its accuracy specs and, of course, functions and powers up at every temperature from -40 Fahrenheit to 140 Fahrenheit.