ESH10000598 - Accordion A2 Lite

Accordion A2 Lite

Product brief

The Accordion A2 Lite is an entry configuration of the Accordion A2 test platform, supplied as a ready-to-run bundle for PCBA test, NPI, and small-scale production test. It contains an Accordion A2 unit pre-fitted with two modules — the ESH10000568 MPIO-96 SPI Module (96 reconfigurable analog / pseudo-digital I/O channels) and the ESH10000355 6× IDC N-TOP Breakout Module (high-density signal breakout to six IDC 20-pin connectors) — together exposing 96 user signals to a fixture via standard 20-pin ribbon cable.

The bundle ships with lifetime licenses for Accordion Shell (command-line tool, AccordionQ2.Shell) and Accordion Pilot (Windows GUI). All other Accordion software clients — the Web API, the Python package accordionq2, and the .NET package AccordionQ2.WebApiClient — connect to the unit over the network without further licensing.

The A2 Lite is intended for users who need a single, fully provisioned Accordion node out of the box: connect power and Ethernet, install Accordion Pilot or the Shell, and start driving channels. Larger or mixed-instrument configurations (PSU, PoE, audio, battery simulation, etc.) are addressed by the full Accordion A2 with additional modules and are out of scope for this page.

Typical use cases:

• Functional and parametric PCBA test with 96 mixed-signal channels.

• NPI bring-up benches where channel role (analog in / analog out / digital) changes during test development.

• Production fixtures interfaced via 20-pin IDC ribbon to the unit's top board.

• Teaching, evaluation, or single-station Accordion deployments.

Key constraints:

• 96 user signals total. Channels are routed 1:1 from the MPIO-96 to the IDC breakout — no signal conditioning, no multiplexing.

• Analog range and resolution are bounded by the AD5592R devices on the MPIO-96: 12-bit ADC, 12-bit DAC, 0–5 V typical (2× mode).

• IDC connector limits: 5 V max, 2 A max per signal pin; pin-1/pin-2 power rails are thermistor-fused at 0.25 A.

• USB-C powered. The bundled USB power supply is the only supported supply.

Datasheet

System

Included hardware

Included software licenses (lifetime)

The Web API, the Python package accordionq2, and the .NET client AccordionQ2.WebApiClient are open clients and are usable without separate licensing.

Channel summary (provided by the bundled modules)

For per-module detail see ESH10000568 — MPIO-96 SPI Module and ESH10000355 — 6× IDC N-TOP Breakout Module.

Manual

Hardware

Unboxing and inventory

The box contains:

1. The Accordion A2 Lite unit (with MPIO-96 and IDC breakout already installed).

2. USB-C power supply.

3. USB-C power cable.

4. Quick start card with hostname and MAC address.

Inspect the unit for shipping damage before powering on. The two pre-installed modules are not user-removable in normal use; do not reseat them unless instructed.

Connectors and indicators

The unit is the standard Accordion A2 chassis. See the Quick start guide for Accordion A2 for chassis photographs.

• Back panel: RJ45 network port, USB-C power input, 4× USB-A, Fan exhaust

• Front panel: Power button

• Top: Two top-side module positions are used by the bundled modules; remaining top positions ship empty.

  • MPIO-96 (ESH10000568): in SO-DIMM slot T1.

  • IDC breakout (ESH10000355): in N-TOP slot N1. N1 maps to SO-DIMM T1, so the 96 DATA signals from the MPIO-96 are routed directly to the IDC connectors.

• IDC connectors J1–J6 on the breakout module expose signals DATA[0–95], 16 signals per connector. See Pinout.

Power-on procedure

1. Connect the USB-C power supply to mains.

2. Connect the USB-C cable from the supply to the POWER port on the front of the unit.

3. Connect an Ethernet cable from the front-panel RJ45 to the same network as the controlling PC.

4. Press the power button on the back of the unit.

5. Wait for the unit to boot.

6. The unit is reachable on the network by hostname (printed on the quick start card) or by DHCP-assigned IP.

Connecting a fixture

Use standard 20-pin (2×10, 2.54 mm pitch) IDC ribbon cable from J1–J6 on the top of the unit to the fixture. Verify pin-1 orientation (chamfer on the connector, marked stripe on the ribbon) before mating. Each connector exposes 16 signal lines, the 5 V rail (pin 1), the 12–20 V rail (pin 2), and GND on the remaining return pins. See Pinout for the per-pin map.

Power down the unit before changing fixture wiring.

Power, fusing, and thermal limits

• Per-pin signal limit: 5 V / 2 A.

• Pin-1 (5 V) and pin-2 (12–20 V) rails per IDC connector: 0.25 A, thermistor-fused. The fuse self-resets after fault clearance.

• Cooling: Active. Single fan on the back of the unit.

Status indicators

Software

Once the unit is on the network and powered, all interaction is over the Web API, optionally fronted by the Pilot GUI, the Shell CLI, the Python package, the .NET client, or TestStand.

Install the bundled clients

Accordion Pilot (GUI):

1. Download the installer: https://esharp.blob.core.windows.net/accordionpilot/setup.exe.

2. Run the installer.

3. Launch Accordion Pilot. In the host field at the top, enter the unit's hostname (from the quick-start card) or its IP address, then click Attach.

4. Pilot polls the unit and displays its channel list. Channels are addressable by their alias name; values are read or written directly in the table.

Accordion Shell (CLI):

dotnet tool install -g AccordionQ2.Shell

Then run accordion-shell from any terminal to start an interactive session against the unit. See the Accordion Shell reference for available commands (alias, configure, get, set, list, module, numeric, init, wait, etc.).

Python (accordionq2):

pip install accordionq2

.NET (AccordionQ2.WebApiClient):

dotnet add package AccordionQ2.WebApiClient

TestStand: use the Accordion sequence files supplied with the platform; reference channels by name in the ChannelName parameter of the Accordion step types. No extra driver install is required on the unit.

Channel naming

Channels on the bundled MPIO-96 follow the standard Accordion convention:

{ModuleIndex}.ESH10000568.MPIO{00–95}

For example, channel 42 on the MPIO-96 (assuming ModuleIndex = 1 for the A2 Lite's single MPIO module):

1.ESH10000568.MPIO42

In addition, the MPIO-96 exposes:

• NumericResult — aggregated high-speed numeric acquisition channel.

• CALIBRATION — per-channel calibration table (96 entries).

The IDC breakout module is passive and exposes no channels of its own; signals presented on the IDC connectors are addressed via the corresponding …MPIOxx channel on the MPIO-96.

Default channel state

All MPIO channels boot in INPUT mode. Direction must be configured explicitly before driving any signal. Configure channels in batches (per group of 8) where possible — the AD5592R devices on the MPIO-96 accept group-level configuration and this is materially faster than per-channel configuration.

Reading and writing — code examples

Python

from accordionq2 import Pilot

pilot = Pilot(host="accordion-a2-lite-XXXX")  # hostname from quick-start card
pilot.attach()

# Configure channel 0 as analog output, drive 2.500 V
ch = pilot.get_channel("1.ESH10000568.MPIO00")
ch.configure(mode="analog_output")
ch.write_analog(2.500)

# Read channel 1 as analog input
v = pilot.get_channel("1.ESH10000568.MPIO01").read_analog()
print(f"MPIO01 = {v:.4f} V")

C# (.NET)

using AccordionQ2.WebApiClient;

var pilot = new Pilot("accordion-a2-lite-XXXX");
await pilot.AttachAsync();

// Pseudo-digital write
var ch = pilot.GetChannel("1.ESH10000568.MPIO42");
await ch.ConfigureAsync(Mode.PseudoDigitalOutput, vl: 0.0, vh: 3.3);
await ch.WriteDigitalAsync(true);

// Analog read
var v = await pilot.GetChannel("1.ESH10000568.MPIO00").ReadAnalogAsync();

Accordion Shell

> set 1.ESH10000568.MPIO00 mode=analog_output value=2.500
> get 1.ESH10000568.MPIO01

Pseudo-digital and open-drain modes

Each MPIO channel can act as a pseudo-digital I/O by setting voltage thresholds VL and VH:

• Standard pseudo-digital output — set both VL and VH to valid voltages; logical LOW drives VL, logical HIGH drives VH.

• Open-drain emulation — set VH < 0. Logical HIGH switches the channel to high-impedance INPUT; logical LOW drives VL. Use for wired-OR / wired-AND nets and for interfacing to external pull-ups.

• Floating-output emulation — set VL < 0. Logical LOW switches the channel to high-impedance INPUT; logical HIGH drives VH.

High-speed acquisition

Multi-channel synchronized sampling is exposed via the MPIO-96's NumericResult channel. Configurable parameters: sample rate, channel mask, and optional data reduction. Results are read as a single time-series payload from NumericResult. See the MPIO-96 page for the full parameter list.

Calibration

The MPIO-96 carries a per-channel gain and offset table, stored persistently on the module and applied automatically. Re-run calibration after:

• Hardware service or replacement of the MPIO module.

• Significant temperature shift outside the calibrated band.

Trigger calibration from Pilot's Calibration Table view or from the Shell init / module-specific calibration commands. See Calibration for the full procedure.

Firmware

Confirm the unit's firmware before extended use. Update via Pilot's Firmware view or the Shell. See Firmware releases.

Pinout

The A2 Lite presents two classes of user-facing connectors: standard chassis ports on the back of the unit, and the six IDC signal connectors on the top.

Back-panel chassis connectors

Front panel

Top — IDC signal connectors (J1–J6, on ESH10000355)

Six 20-pin (2×10, 2.54 mm pitch) IDC connectors. Mating part: any standard 20-pin IDC ribbon header. Pin 1 is indicated by the connector chamfer and by the marked wire on standard IDC ribbon cable.

Connector → DATA-line mapping (1:1 to MPIO-96 channels via the populated SO-DIMM slot):

Per-connector pin map. The J1–J6 pin map on the A2 Lite is identical to the standalone ESH10000355 module. The fixed pins are:

Related pages

• Quick start guide for Accordion A2

• Accordion Architecture

• ESH10000568 — MPIO-96 SPI Module

• ESH10000355 — 6× IDC N-TOP Breakout Module

• Accordion Shell

• Accordion Pilot

• Calibration

• Firmware releases