Tractor

Tractor is a free, open-source application designed to drive automated testing of your audio product.

Key Features

Open Source. This ensure if your development team needs to add special tests or interface with special equipment it can be done. Fork and build. We'd be happy to consider pull requests too if it makes sense. Of course, if you don't want to deal with building source code, there's an installer. You can have Tractor running on your desktop in minutes.

Turnkey. If you are using a QA401 or a QA450, then you should be able to automate most all of your testing without having to write a single line of code. From instructing the operator to perform setup tasks, to driving the audio test instruments, to logging the results to a database--it's all there out of the box. Just visit Github and run the latest installer. 

Generating an Audit Trail. Best manufacturing practices include the creation of audit trail for each of your products, so that you can be sure various sub-assemblies and final products were correctly tested, assembled and passed final testing. Tractor can talk to a SQL database running on-site OR it can connect to our database in the cloud. Either way, your data can be saved and queried at a later date so that your engineers can better understand how the product is yielding in the factory. 

Easy to get started. Create a first test in minutes. With Tractor, you can interactively build a list of audio tests for your product. All of the parameters of the test can be interactively adjusted as you refine the test.

Small footprint. Tractor is lean, requiring just a few Mbytes of space on your machine. Unlike some other test environments, Tractor can run on low-spec machines making it possible to build a full test bay, including the test equipment and a PC, for under $1000.

Free. Tractor is free, as is the use of the cloud database. 

See Tractor in Action

The post linked HERE walks you through the creation of a first set of automated test for a 5W guitar amplifier, and includes a video at the end where you can watch the test running. 

Tractor is new--it hasn't hit its first 1.0 release yet. But give it a try and see how easy it is for your QA401 to deliver a whole new range of functionality. 

Manufacturers

If you are manufacturing a lot of products and need something custom added, let's talk. Our aim is to make it easy for your to scale your manufacturing and hopefully your demand for QA401s. 

An installer for Tractor can be downloaded here. 

Links for getting started:

Automated Amplifier Testing with Tractor
Automated Pedal Measurements with Tractor
Tractor's Cloud Database
Automating EQ Tests with Tractor
Forum Post: Mic Comparison under Tractor
Forum Post: Distortion Pedal Testing