Post-Assembly

A series of checks to do after finishing assembling or receiving an assembled board:

Unpowered Tests

Things to check before powering on the board at all. This mostly involves checking for shorts with the multimeter’s ohmmeter.

Basic Powered Tests

The purpose of these basic tests is to verify the basic functionality of the board when powering it on for the first few times. When powering on the board for the very first time, supply the nominal expected voltage input for the board and start with a very low current output (i.e. 0.1A). This is to avoid any overheating or destructive failures from undiscovered issues. Once the first power on is complete and the power rail voltages and board temperatures are verified to be OK, the input power can be increased.

Performance Tests

Performance tests are meant to measure, record, and analyze how well the board does what it was designed to do. For example, if your board includes some form of power regulation, such as a buck converter, it should be tested to see how well it performs with regard to stability, efficiency, etc. These tests are specific to every board, so the examples provided below may not fit exactly with your board.