FIELD NOTES
Get better at hardware test.
Guides, tutorials, and best practices to help you build better hardware tests.
A few places to start
What Is First Pass Yield and How to Track It
First pass yield is the share of units passing without rework. How to define it honestly, what corrupts it, and how to track it per stage.
Read the guideGetting StartedBuild Your First Hardware Test
Build your first hardware test in Python: a working procedure with limits, a plug for your instrument, and results on the dashboard in minutes.
Read the guideMigrating from Legacy SystemsPython vs LabVIEW for Manufacturing Test
Compare Python and LabVIEW for manufacturing test: cost analysis, instrument control, version control, and what replaces the sequencer and TDMS.
Read the guide- Test Data & Analytics
What Is First Pass Yield and How to Track It
First pass yield is the share of units passing without rework. How to define it honestly, what corrupts it, and how to track it per stage.
- Getting Started
Build Your First Hardware Test
Build your first hardware test in Python: a working procedure with limits, a plug for your instrument, and results on the dashboard in minutes.
- Migrating from Legacy Systems
Python vs LabVIEW for Manufacturing Test
Compare Python and LabVIEW for manufacturing test: cost analysis, instrument control, version control, and what replaces the sequencer and TDMS.
- Test Types & Methods
PCBA Functional Testing: A Complete Guide
PCBA functional test with Python: what to measure, how to structure the procedure, fixture and instrument plugs, and tracking yield per measurement.
- Migrating from Legacy Systems
Call a 32-bit DLL from a TofuPilot Plug
Learn how to keep a 32-bit vendor DLL working on a 64-bit TofuPilot station by hosting it in a msl-loadlib 32-bit server behind a plug.
- Migrating from Legacy Systems
LabVIEW Alternatives for Test Automation
Free and paid LabVIEW alternatives for test automation compared: OpenHTF, pytest, OpenTAP, and TofuPilot Framework, with what each is actually good at.
- Migrating from Legacy Systems
LabVIEW Community Edition: Download & Rules
How to download LabVIEW Community Edition, what its free license actually allows, and where it breaks down for commercial or production test use.
- Migrating from Legacy Systems
LabVIEW Pricing: What It Actually Costs
LabVIEW pricing broken down by license tier, module add-ons, and NI TestStand costs, plus what a Python-based test stack costs by comparison.
- Migrating from Legacy Systems
Trace a Test Change to the Units It Shipped
Learn how to stamp the test version on every run so a limit change traces to the exact serial numbers it shipped, on LabVIEW today and Python by default.
- Migrating from Legacy Systems
Separate Compiled Code in LabVIEW, Explained
Learn what separate compiled code changes inside a VI, which Git noise it removes and which it doesn't, and how to turn it on for a project in one clean commit.
- Migrating from Legacy Systems
Code Review for LabVIEW Tests: Why It Fails
Learn why a VI change can't be reviewed like text, what teams do instead and what each misses, and a checklist that gets most of a review on LabVIEW anyway.
- Migrating from Legacy Systems
Which LabVIEW Version Runs on Each Station?
Learn how to record the LabVIEW version, bitness and Run-Time Engine on every station, catch a stranded build before release, and keep the list true.
