Gearbox testing on a military automotive shop floor needed a data-acquisition and SCADA platform tough enough to survive daily production-line conditions while running the diagnostic software engineers rely on for every test cycle.
Case Studies
Rugged Field Testing for Automotive Gearbox Diagnostics
11 Aug 2026A rugged laptop running SCADA/DAQ software for gearbox testing on the shop floor.
Overview
ChallengesThe main challenges were
- Standard laptops struggle with shop-floor dust
- vibration
- constant handling
- any downtime during gearbox testing directly delays production — the computer running the test software had to be as reliable as the test rig itself
ObjectivesThe system needed to
- Replace a fragile
- consumer-grade laptop with a rugged computing platform that keeps the existing SCADA/DAQ workflow running without interruption
- protecting test throughput on a live production line
Solution DeliveredThe solution included
- Dynalog supplied the DYNA-EM-X14 rugged laptop as the SCADA/DAQ platform for gearbox testing, giving engineers a computer built to survive daily shop-floor handling, dust, and vibration without the fragility of a consumer-grade machine
- Running the same data-acquisition and SCADA software the testing process already depended on, the rugged laptop slotted directly into the existing workflow — the change was in the hardware's durability, not the process itself, meaning zero retraining and zero disruption to the test line
Products referenced in the source material include
Conclusion
Test data is only useful if the equipment collecting it doesn't fail mid-shift — a simple, direct example of why rugged computing belongs on the shop floor, not just in the field.
