Simplified Remote Troubleshooting, Monitoring and Control of Test Station
François Robitaille, Manager, Optical Business Unit—Manufacturing, Design and Research

When dealing with contract manufacturers or remote manufacturing sites, troubleshooting automated test stations can be extremely difficult and time-consuming. Where once these issues had to be dealt with over the phone, through e-mail or directly on-site, there now exist tools and technologies that enable the remote troubleshooting, monitoring and control of a test station—in just minutes. This article provides an overview of the tools that are currently available to facilitate this process.

Choosing the Right Software Application

TightVNC

When building an automated test station, planning for situations that require remote access can be done for free simply by installing a software application, such as TightVNC, on the central PC or test station. If properly configured to run as a service, TightVNC can provide any user with access to the test station—no matter where that user is located. This can be done by running TightVNC Viewer on the remote PC or from any web browser, since TightVNC also includes a web server utility. An advantage to using VNC is that both the local and remote users can be connected, and both can control the test station, which is an extremely practical way of training an operator on a new feature.

In order to have remote access, the only thing required is the IP address of the device the user wants to connect to (PC or test station). However, TightVNC must be added to the firewall exceptions of the device to avoid being blocked.

The main limitation to this approach is that some users may encounter their own corporate firewall since IT departments often block external access to the corporate LAN from software such as TightVNC. In avoid this, the user must ensure that the corporate firewall at the test station site is open to external communication from TightVNC prior to use.

Windows® Remote Desktop

If the corporate firewall prevents the use of applications such as TightVNC, there is another approach for remotely troubleshooting and controlling test stations; i.e., Windows® Remote Desktop.

Built-in Windows® XP and Windows Vista™, Remote Desktop enables any user with a password to remotely access a PC-based test station via Internet or a LAN. Since this is a system function of Windows®, it has the advantage of being accepted by corporate firewalls almost everywhere.

Remote Desktop works almost the same way as TightVNC; it can be configured from the Control Panel under System. It needs to be activated on the remote PC or test station, and potential remote users should be included in the list of permitted users. As indicated at the bottom of the configuration window, the remote PC or test-station firewall also needs to be configured to enable Remote Desktop connections.

Once the setup of the remote PC or test station is complete, any remote user can connect to it via a web browser using the station’s IP address.

Conclusion

When selecting the component of an automated test station that will be deployed in a remote location, two main things must be considered: 1) They must allow remote connections via Ethernet, and 2) They must not be blocked by corporate firewalls. Working with PC-based test stations offers numerous advantages and, clearly, tools such as TightVNC and Remote Desktop can simplify the deployment of test stations by enabling remote troubleshooting, monitoring and control.