AMS Test Design and Automation

Abstract

The history of Mass Spectroscopy can be traced back to the quest to study nature's physical and chemical components.A technique to chemically ionize an input sample and separate its constituents based on their respective mass to charge ratios forms the basis of Mass Spectroscopy. Whether it is quantitatively measuring the compo- nents of natural gas, achieving reliable gas compositions for fabrication industries, or monitoring the evaporation of water vapour during the freeze drying process in pharmaceutical industries, AMS is a smart device to handle all. Training consisted of an in depth analysis of AMS features. This was followed by developing test cases for new features added and also manually testing them. Au- tomating these test cases using python to reduce human intervention and effort in future provided a learning opportunity. Finally the process of Gas Calibration was done to increase the accuracy of the instrument. AMS Validation Suite, a standalone tool is developed on python. the logs generated can be saved in the same directory or different one as per requirement. It checks the functionality of components, functionality of circuits consisting of the validated components, and the functionality of the board itself. It has test-cases to deploy firmwares onto micro-controller, run the functionality tests of components and cir- cuits and board. After automation the focus was moved onto gas calibrating the instrument and its Mass Axis Correction features.