With the popularity of health wearable devices, major manufacturers around the world are facing a series of production line testing challenges in order to improve their product quality and production efficiency. These challenges not only affect product quality, but may also lead to a reduction in production efficiency. Here are some key test scenario descriptions:

Current Status of Production Line Testing: Grounding and Power Distribution Conditions Are Worrying

In many electronics manufacturing plants, grounding systems are often inadequate. Poor grounding can lead to a build-up of static electricity, which can trigger an electrostatic discharge (ESD) event, which can be fatal to sensitive electronic components. Especially in wearable devices, such components are usually small in size and have complex functions, and more sensitive to the environment. If the grounding system fails to operate effectively, it will lead to inaccurate test data and may even cause equipment damage. 

Specific effects of poor grounding include:

- Risk of electrostatic discharge (ESD): Electrostatic discharge is a transient high voltage phenomenon that can cause damage or malfunction of electronic components. When equipment encounters electrostatic discharge during testing, it may cause distortion of test results and affect product quality.

- Signal interference: Poor grounding will cause signal noise and interference, making the test equipment unable to accurately read data. For example, in heart rate monitoring or other vital sign tests, inaccurate data will directly affect product reliability and user safety.   

- Equipment damage: Equipment that has been operating in a poor grounding environment for a long time may be damaged due to leakage, ultimately leading to increased repair costs and production delays. 

 

Automated Robotic Arms Generate Noise Interference 

With the application of automation technology in production lines, automated robotic arms have become an important tool to improve production efficiency. However, these robotic arms will generate a large amount of electromagnetic interference (EMI) during operation, which will affect the normal operation of the test equipment. Especially when performing high-precision testing, any external noise may cause data distortion, thereby affecting the final quality of the product.

Specifically, the interference caused by automated robotic arms includes the following aspects:

- Electromagnetic interference (EMI): Automation equipment will generate large electromagnetic fields when running. These electromagnetic fields may have little impact on general IT products, but they are fatal to small signals such as vital signs. For example, when performing an ECG test, if there is large EMI around, it may lead to inaccurate data.

- Signal loss: Due to the vibration and noise generated by the robot arm during operation, the signal transmission may be unstable. In wearable device testing, if the signal is lost or interfered with, accurate test results cannot be obtained.

- Increased maintenance costs: Due to interference and noise problems, equipment needs to be maintained and calibrated regularly to ensure its normal operation, which may increase the factory's manpower and operating costs.

 

Electric Leakage Damages Machine Performance and Increases Safety Risks    

Leakage problems are very common in the production process of electronic products, which may lead to short circuits or other malfunctions. Therefore, it is crucial to effectively manage leakage issues during production line testing of wearable devices.
 
The specific impacts of leakage problems include:    

- Equipment damage: Long-term leakage will cause the internal components of the equipment to overheat and accelerate aging, which may eventually lead to equipment failure. 

- Unstable performance: Electricity leakage may cause the device to malfunction during use, such as displaying error messages or failing to start normally. Such problems not only affect user experience, but also increase after-sales service costs.

- Safety hazard: Electric leakage may lead to electric shock. When we come into contact with equipment with leakage, the current may flow through our body to the ground, causing serious injury or even death. In some cases, leakage of electricity may also cause safety accidents such as fires. Therefore, leakage problems need to be strictly controlled to ensure the personal safety of factories and users.

 

Solution Designed for Production Line Testing of Wearable Devices

In order to solve the above problems and challenges, WECG400 offers a professional wearable device testing solution, and its design principle fully considers potential problems mentioned above. 

 

Double Protection Design

WECG400 adopts a dual protection design to cope with environmental changes and improve equipment stability. The position of the protective components is carefully adjusted to reduce the impact of external noise on device performance.


 

Adjust Impedance to Appropriate Value, Reducing Current and Surge Damage

WECG400 allows users to set the impedance value of 10MΩ according to actual needs to reduce the impact of input current or electrostatic discharge (ESD) and surge. This design can effectively prevent high current from causing damage to the equipment while reducing the impact of environmental noise on test results. This flexibility allows WECG400 to adapt to testing needs in different environments. (For details, please see Supplement : Smartwatch Performance Test Operation Suggestions )

 

ESD protection capabilities are higher than regulatory standards

The design of WECG400 is superior to the specifications of the international standard IEC61000-4-2 and can perform the highest level of electrostatic protection test of ±15kV, ensuring that its ESD electrostatic protection capability is sufficient for use in production lines and harsher environments. In electronic product testing, ESD is a factor that cannot be ignored. WECG400 effectively reduces the interference of static electricity and surge on the test process through precise design and high-quality materials. 

Also, before starting the test with WECG400, three pre-processing operations can be performed, including: connecting wires in a special way, using a USB isolator, and connecting the WECG400 to a large metal piece to completely isolate the radiation and noise of the test environment, avoiding interference from public frequencies and other noise.

Conclusion

Production line testing of wearable devices faces many challenges, including poor grounding, power distribution conditions, interference caused by automated robotic arms, buildup of static electricity and leakage issues. However, by using advanced testing solutions like the WECG400, the problem can be effectively solved. Its dual protection structure, flexible settings and higher-than-standard ESD protection design make the WECG400 an ideal choice for R&D engineers in wearable device production line testing.

With the rapid development of science and technology and the continuous growth of market demand, the production of wearable devices in the future will rely more on efficient and stable testing solutions. Choosing the right tools and technologies will be an important factor in improving product quality and market competitiveness. In the product development process, the importance of each testing and verification stage cannot be ignored, and every step needs to be treated with caution to ensure that high-quality and reliable products are ultimately delivered to users.

 

Supplement: Smartwatch Performance Test Operation Suggestions

Please follow the steps below to ensure the accuracy and safety of the test:

Set WECG400 to 10M ohm level

  • Reason: To avoid high-voltage electrostatic discharge and surge from damaging the internal components of the simulator.
  • Operation suggestions:

①. Set the simulator to the 10M ohm level as the first level of protection.
②. Make sure all four channels of DUT are correctly placed and connected to the simulator before testing. 
③. Before completing the four DUT tests and removing the DUT, set the simulator to the 10M ohm range again. 

*Note: When performing "test items that do not use 10M ohms", it is still possible to damage the simulator. However, based on the above operation suggestions, the risk of damage has been greatly reduced.