I should return to this project since #YGREC8 makes progresses !

I'm considering a much simpler approach where the relays are tested "in condition", as a latch. No more voltage measurement or current control. In fact, things have changed since the last logs : I now have a computer-controllable PSU that can receive orders from my laptop !

I'm also avoiding RPi now. I haven't powered one up for more than a year and I don't miss it. I like the convenience of my computer and it can already do some limited IO with the digital PSU. So what's remaining is the input... I don't have a SPI input on that PC so I must also use a USB serial adapter :-(

What will I measure ? I reduce the system to its basic purpose : measure the voltage where the relay latches and releases (if possible, a few cycles to get a better average). The input is just a single bit, coming from the relay's contact. It must then be possible to hack a USB thingy to act as that binary input. A keyboard ? No. A mouse ? ah, we're getting somewhere :-)

So let's take a USB mouse with 2 buttons. The rotary encoder is left alone, and one button orders to start the test sequence, and the 2nd input is the output from the RUT (Relay Under Test). Our program will poll the buttons and talk to the digital PSU, ramping the output voltage up and down. When the sequence starts, the output voltage will slowly increase until the relay closes, then decrease until the relay opens. The cycle is repeated a few times and each value (except the first ones because hysteresis has not settled) are sampled and computed.

A serial number is allocated and marked on each relay while their characteristics are stored in a file. After testing tens of relays, the file can be analysed, sorted and binned.

That sounds like an ice plan.