Pickering’s 60-191 LXI family switches currents up to 80 A

Pickering Interfaces has introduced the 60-191 LXI high-current and sense switching family, which Pickering calls its highest-current switching products to date. Each unit switches signals up to 80 A and 300 V and is built to connect, disconnect and sequence multiple high-current power supplies in an automated test system.

The family comes in four standard configurations, combining up to twenty 40 A and four 80 A hermetically sealed SPST-NO contactors with a complementary set of 1 A SPST relays for sense lines. Each unit occupies a 4U enclosure, and high-current and sense-line connections are made through front-panel screw terminals. Custom relay combinations and alternative connectors are available on request. All four configurations carry a three-year warranty.

In use, a unit sits between several power supplies and the device or system under test, connecting and disconnecting each supply’s positive and negative outputs and their associated high- and low-sense lines under program control. Engineers can switch every relay independently or operate two high-current and two low-current relays together with a single command, matching the four connections a power supply typically uses.

A built-in sequencing service stores up to 5,000 predefined switching sequences and runs them from software or configurable hardware triggers. Holding the sequences on the LXI controller cuts host transactions and system latency, according to Pickering. Front-panel LEDs show switch status, and relay cycle counting supports preventive maintenance and spreads wear across the available paths.

The units use an LXI 1.5-compliant 1000Base-T Ethernet interface and are controlled through an API or a built-in soft front panel. IVI and direct I/O drivers cover Windows and Linux and development environments including LabVIEW, Python, C/C++, C#, MATLAB and Simulink.

Pickering lists typical applications as EV battery and high-drain automotive electronics testing, fuel-cell and hydrogen-electrolysis research, solar inverter and energy-storage testing, aerospace development and functional or production testing of high-current power supplies.

“High-current switching in automated test systems is often implemented as a custom assembly using contactors and digital output modules,” said Steven Edwards, Head of Product Management at Pickering. “The 60-191 family provides fully tested, easily maintainable LXI alternatives in standard 4U enclosures, with the switching capacity, control features, and software support needed to integrate high-current supplies more quickly.”

Source: Pickering Interfaces