Electronics have become smaller, faster and more integrated in almost every industry.
Products that once required large boards, cables and separate subsystems are now compact, connected and highly optimized. Automotive electronics, industrial controllers, sensors, communication modules and embedded devices all follow the same trend: more functionality in less space.
But automated test has not always followed.
Many functional test systems are still built around large racks, external instruments, long cable runs and custom fixture wiring. The device under test may be compact and highly integrated, while the test system around it is large, expensive and difficult to move, scale or maintain.
Why?
Because test architecture has often been shaped by available instrumentation — not by the needs of the fixture. Benchtop instruments were placed in racks. PXI systems brought modularity and performance. Custom hardware filled the gaps. But the fixture itself often remained dependent on external measurement and control hardware.
In-fixture instrumentation changes that approach.
Instead of placing all intelligence outside the fixture, compact modules can be integrated closer to the DUT. This can reduce wiring, save space and simplify the overall system architecture.
Testblox brings this idea into a modular platform: credit card-sized instrumentation for automated test, designed to fit inside functional test fixtures and support measurement, I/O, switching, power and communication needs. The material positions Testblox as an integrated in-fixture instrumentation platform with compact modules, standard interfaces and support for automated test workflows.
Miniaturization should not stop at the product.
It should include the way we test it.
