Design and construction of electronic control unit

Abstract: The main objective of this project was to create a new, future-proofed, electroniccontrol unit for a test station at GE Healthcare in Uppsala. The control unit was tobe created in cooperation with the technical consultant firm Rejlers. The project consisted of two parts, one investigation part and one design part. The investigation part consisted of examining the previous control unit and its connection between the quality control station and the host computer. This examination resulted in a specification of requirements which was used as a basis in the design of the new control unit. The design part consisted of finding durable and reliable components that met the specification of requirements. During the design process the work was documented and compiled in a technical documentation for the control unit. The project resulted in a new control unit that was improved by using a programmable logic controller that was directly compatible with LabVIEW, moving external power supplies inside the control unit to limit the number of cables and adding cartridge fuses for safety. It also resulted in a full technical documentationof the unit, facilitating future maintenance. The new control unit was considered to be future-proofed, but in order to consider the entire test station future-proofed the quality control station would have needed to be replaced as well. At the time this report was written, the new electronic control unit had been designed and was under construction.