Printable test jig

One part of creating a product is production time programming and testing the boards. In low volumes this can be often be done completely manually, but when volumes grow a bit programming and testing can become very tedious.

In high volume production this is often done automatically with some kind of automated test system but they tend to be pretty expensive so they aren't really an option unless you're manufacturing in really high volumes (by which point you very likely have manufacturing and testing being done by some large manufacturer who has suitable adaptable test setups already).

But how about low-to-medium volumes then?

When I heard of 3D printing, this was one of the first practical (read: practical to me) ideas I came up. This was several years ago, but I haven't had need to do new test systems for a while so only now I did first test (and, granted, pretty much first attempt at 3D design at all so this isn't best looking thing there).

I'm using white filament so photo doesn't have best possible resolution but it should be sufficient. For this you'll need test points on PCB - through holes work a bit better in this case since they're self-centering.

I had some long (total about 25mm, one loose one shown at picture) test pins available so it was easiest to design the first attempt around those. Shorter ones would be better (less prone to accidental bending) but you'll have to go with what you have sometimes.

The back corner points are made to hold PCB in place and when pressed down, the clip piece at front will lock PCB in place so pins (contact points are naturally spring-loaded) will mate with contacts on board.

This was done only for programming so no testing the board is involved, but that would be fairly easy addition, it just needs more contact points to places you want to test on production.

So to program PCB in your test setup you essentially place it on board, hit button, wait until it has been programmed (and tested), take it out and move to next. Quick and easy (and more specifically so easy that you can take just about anyone to do it so you can focus on more complex details yourself)