You could by a teradyne test station.  One model I worked with (J259)=20
was based on a PDP8.  We had to key in a boot program in binary on a=20
switch panel to get it to read the test programs from paper tape.  J273=20
was much more capable with magnetic storage!
The thing is... hardware testing requires hardware and a standard to=20
talk to the hardware.   National Instruments makes hardware and Labview=20
software and uses GPIB.   It's expensive.  There may be rumblings about=20
integrating GPIB  into Scilab.
Wikipedia has a good place to start researching:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_test_equipment>

Joe W


On 6/24/2012 9:22 PM, David Duffy (AVD) wrote:
> As indicated in my other thread, I'm setting out to automate some
> hardware testing.  This will involve simulating external input(s) as
> well as monitoring output(s) of the DUT.  These I/O will be serial
> comms, contacts, voltages, pulses, etc.
>
> For example, the PC may send out some serial data and then check (or
> log) how the hardware responded.  There would need to be some sort of
> scripting to drive the events and judge the results.
>
> Writing the PC software should not pose any problems, but I was
> interested to see if such software already exists.  If so, is there a
> standard interface method?
>
> The plan is to develop hardware and software plugins as the need arises
> and have them integrate on a common platform.
> David...
>

--=20
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