A method for establishing a secure connection from a service technician to a component of an automation environment that can be remotely diagnosed andor maintained and is experiencing failure. The apparatus comprises of a specimen holder for receiving a specimen to be tested, and an impact device. The holding vessel has at least one wall coupled to a lowermost portion. The method includes providing a non-deformable surface region having a first predetermined radius of curvature, which is defined by R and is defined normal to the surface region. The probe is locally deployed near the sample and detects, in real time, perturbations in the excited acoustic waves to detect surface and buried structures of the sample.