Modular smart I/O controller

A modular I/O family is a manufacturing problem disguised as a product. Every module has to plug into every other module, the mechanical tolerances have to hold across a range of parts made at different times, and the electrical bus has to work whether the customer stacks three modules or twelve.

GANI ran the program from manufacturability through tooling, PCB and series assembly: the plug-together digital and analogue I/O modules, the tool-less terminal blocks, and the common bus and backplane that ties a stack together.

Each module passes a functional end-of-line test on a dedicated fixture. In a modular family that test is not optional — a module that fails only in combination with a particular neighbour is the failure mode that reaches the customer, so every unit is proven against the bus before it leaves.