*Image is illustrative — actual module configuration may differ.

The Accordion A2 Lite is the entry configuration of the Accordion A2 test platform — a fully provisioned single-unit Accordion node aimed at PCBA test, NPI, and small-scale production test. It ships with two pre-installed modules (the MPIO-96 SPI module and the 6× IDC N-TOP breakout) and lifetime licenses for Accordion Pilot and Accordion Shell, so the unit is usable from the moment it is on the network.

At a glance

• Part number: ESH10000598
• Platform: Accordion A2
• User channels: 96, software-configurable per channel as analog input, analog output, or pseudo-digital I/O
• Connectors: 6× IDC 20-pin (16 signals each, +5 V and +12–20 V fused rails)
• Bundled software: Accordion Pilot and Accordion Shell, lifetime licenses
• Power: USB-C, 130 W bundled supply (USB-PD)
• Dimensions / weight: 233 × 129 × 60 mm, 1.02 kg
• Compliance: CE, RoHS, REACH

What it does

The A2 Lite presents 96 user signals to a fixture via six standard 20-pin IDC ribbon connectors. Each signal corresponds to one channel on the bundled MPIO-96 module, and each channel can be reconfigured at runtime — analog input, analog output, or pseudo-digital with programmable VL/VH thresholds. Open-drain and floating-output behaviour are emulated by setting the thresholds out of range, which is useful when interfacing with external pull-ups or mixed-signal nodes.

Channel resolution and range are bounded by the AD5592R devices on the MPIO-96: 12-bit ADC and DAC, 0–5 V typical in 2× mode. Per-pin limits at the IDC connectors are 5 V and 2 A; the +5 V and +12–20 V rails on each connector are individually thermistor-fused at 0.25 A. The acquisition path supports synchronized multi-channel sampling, exposed through a single NumericResult channel.

The A2 Lite is intentionally a single-purpose configuration: 96 reconfigurable channels, no PSU module, no PoE, no audio. Mixed-instrument benches use the full Accordion A2 with additional modules.

How it fits into Accordion

The A2 Lite is a fully fledged Accordion node. It is reachable on the network by hostname or IP, addressed by Accordion’s standard channel-naming convention ({ModuleIndex}.ESH10000568.MPIO00–95), and controllable from any of the Accordion clients — Pilot (GUI), Shell (CLI, dotnet tool install -g AccordionQ2.Shell), the Web API, the Python package accordionq2, or the .NET package AccordionQ2.WebApiClient. The Pilot and Shell licenses ship with the unit; the API clients are open and require no additional licensing.

The chassis has free capacity for later expansion: three SO-DIMM slots, three N-TOP slots, and two M.2 slots are unpopulated and accept the standard Accordion module range when needs change.

Typical use

• Functional and parametric test of PCBAs with 96 mixed-signal channels.
• NPI bring-up benches where channel role changes during test development.
• Production fixtures interfaced via 20-pin IDC ribbon to the unit’s top board.
• Single-station Accordion deployments and evaluation stations.

Full specifications

The full datasheet — electrical specifications, channel naming convention, calibration procedure, IDC pin layout, and integration examples for Python, C#, and TestStand — is maintained in the E-Sharp help center. See the Accordion A2 Lite help center page.