A general-purpose valve test rig serving multiple valve types needs a test programme abstraction layer that separates the test logic from the specific hardware interfaces. Here's an architecture pattern for that.
Test Programme Abstraction
At the core of the design is a shared test programme interface that every test type must implement. This base interface defines two required behaviours: a method that runs the actual test sequence against the hardware, and a method that interprets the resulting data against specification limits to determine a pass or fail outcome. Keeping these two responsibilities separate, rather than mixing execution and judgement in one block, makes each test type easier to validate and easier to extend.
Built on top of this shared interface, an endurance test programme implements the cycling logic: it commands repeated actuation of the valve for a specified number of cycles while logging response characteristics over time, then evaluates pass or fail based on whether performance has drifted outside acceptable bounds as cycle count accumulates. A hysteresis test programme implements a different sequence: it commands the valve through an increasing-then-decreasing command profile and compares the response curve in each direction, evaluating pass or fail based on how closely the two directions track each other.
