A Self-Programming Automatic Electronic Test System with Pattern Recognition Displays

Employing a large number of optical and electrical input signals an automatic test system is proposed which rapidly samples the test data from an operating ensemble and which then displays the data in block form so that interpretation is made on the basis of pattern recognition. The display is via a cathode ray tube which is operated in a TV mode so that the displayed test data can be continuously and rapidly up-dated. By means of rear ports in the CRT it is shown how failure patterns can be recorded on film and preserved to make the test system self-programming, thereby overcoming one of the major obstacles in presently conceived automatic test systems.