by Henry A. Zumbrun
Imagine that a satellite is launched into space and communications are intermittent. This happens because the satellite is wobbling, which causes connection problems in the receiver. The cause of the wobbling is identified: it is the result of not using a calibration provider with a low enough uncertainty. The load cells used to measure the amount of fuel stored in the satellite must be highly accurate with very low uncertainties. However, if a calibration provider does not have the right measurement capability, the load cells will not be accurate enough to make the measurement. In this case, the result is a wobbling satellite and significant resources to fix the problem.
If the problem is not using a calibration provider with an uncertainty adequate to perform the calibration, how does one figure out how low is good enough? This article answers this question by defining measurement risk, and the role Test Uncertainty Ratios (T.U.R) play in reducing measurement risk. Read Full Article (PDF)
