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Environmental testing of home projects...how do you shake and bake your creations? — Parallax Forums

Environmental testing of home projects...how do you shake and bake your creations?

Too_Many_ToolsToo_Many_Tools Posts: 765
edited 2014-02-05 18:59 in General Discussion
In a business setting one will shake and bake products to see how robust they are.

So in a home environment, how do you test your product for temperature extremes, vibration and other nasty environment variables.

I look forward to seeing the home bult torture chambers that you use to test projects and robots.

Thanks

Comments

  • xanaduxanadu Posts: 3,347
    edited 2014-02-03 21:01
    If I'm building something I'd take 30% off the top of key characteristics from the datasheet, and keep it contained to that. For me it seems like it's everyone else's lack of info and QA where the need for testing comes in. I test all hard drives using linear surface scan and then an IO stress test for about a week before they will go into production use. I accept the manufacturer's recommendations and often do not test environmental factors. Maybe I'll see how long my phone can go around in the microwave.

    I made a rig to test a switch going into a Vans RV7 once -

    [video=youtube_share;e7iwQKi38Rk]

    The subtitles in the video are a joke, but the device worked out great.
  • Prophead100Prophead100 Posts: 192
    edited 2014-02-03 21:48
    Depends upon your goal for testing. I have found that my truck is great for testing things in a real world setting with vibration, high temperatures and electrical noise. The garage is better for more humidity and lower temps. ( Last week I tested at -10F in Illinois) As a teen we used the washer on spin-dry for G-force and the dryer for surviving tumbling of rocket parts. No calibration but it does check for weak mechanical designs and bumping around for around the house applications.
  • Too_Many_ToolsToo_Many_Tools Posts: 765
    edited 2014-02-03 21:50
    I have a friend who builds robots...and he lives in MN.

    For the last month, he has been testing his bots in the -20F weather they have been having.

    The results were to say the least...very interesting.

    Maybe the Chinese need to test their next Lunar rover in MN before launching it.
  • Too_Many_ToolsToo_Many_Tools Posts: 765
    edited 2014-02-03 21:54
    Prophead100 wrote: »
    Depends upon your goal for testing. I have found that my truck is great for testing things in a real world setting with vibration, high temperatures and electrical noise. The garage is better for more humidity and lower temps. ( Last week I tested at -10F in Illinois) As a teen we used the washer on spin-dry for G-force and the dryer for surviving tumbling of rocket parts. No calibration but it does check for weak mechanical designs and bumping around for around the house applications.

    LOL..Like the washer/dryer combo.

    In the past, I had students for a night class I taught use a dishwasher to test weather instruments and their enclosures...the dye in the detergent fluoreses under UV...showing you where the leaks are.
  • Too_Many_ToolsToo_Many_Tools Posts: 765
    edited 2014-02-03 21:59
    xanadu wrote: »
    If I'm building something I'd take 30% off the top of key characteristics from the datasheet, and keep it contained to that. For me it seems like it's everyone else's lack of info and QA where the need for testing comes in. I test all hard drives using linear surface scan and then an IO stress test for about a week before they will go into production use. I accept the manufacturer's recommendations and often do not test environmental factors. Maybe I'll see how long my phone can go around in the microwave.

    I made a rig to test a switch going into a Vans RV7 once -

    [video=youtube_share;e7iwQKi38Rk]

    The subtitles in the video are a joke, but the device worked out great.

    FWIW...I know a certain company in the US who has been testing their hard drive components in the extreme cold they have been having...while they have been installing a new set of environmental chambers...to make production schedules.

    The guy who suggested it got a bonus and a promotion....quite creative;<)
  • Too_Many_ToolsToo_Many_Tools Posts: 765
    edited 2014-02-03 22:05
    Once a friend of mine found a LARGE woofer behind a disco club...and we made a vibration table our of it.

    We had access to a professional one at the university...and between them we were able to calibrate our homemade table to perform quite well.

    The only limitation was the weight of the item under test...we shook a number of bots and found a number of poor design choices.

    Using a strobe with the table allowed us to zero in on the resonant frequencies that were the problem.

    The only problem we really had was where to run it...it was hard to find a room on campus that is truly sound proof at 3AM.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2014-02-03 22:36
    One place I worked had a shock testing facility. It was very impressive. Basically a huge iron platform about 15 feet by 15 feet and over a foot thick. This would lifted up five feet or so and then let to drop! It was used to test military equipment. Bolt the stuff to the platform, cover it with accelerometers and drop it. If nothing actually broke the accelerometer readings would tell you what was moving and vibrating.

    I had to get my project tested there. It was only a box of electronics about the size of a lunch box. It was pretty funny seeing that tiny thing bolted to the middle of that huge platform and tortured.

    It passed with flying colours by the way:)
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2014-02-03 23:05
    Too_Many_Tools wrote: »
    Maybe the Chinese need to test their next Lunar rover in MN before launching it.

    They do have their Gobi Desert, and for cold they can always go to Harbin. It is the lack of a QA/QC culture that causes such failures... production capacity is not all and everything.

    ++++++++
    I do find it both interesting and true that devices left in an automobile, or truck are likely to suffer the greatest extremes of abuse. Sitting on a dashboard is almost oven like in the summer; and of course, it is just the oppositie in the winter when a car is left outdoors.
  • Too_Many_ToolsToo_Many_Tools Posts: 765
    edited 2014-02-03 23:20
    Loopy Byteloose wrote: »
    They do have their Gobi Desert, and for cold they can always go to Harbin. It is the lack of a QA/QC culture that causes such failures... production capacity is not all and everything.

    ++++++++
    I do find it both interesting and true that devices left in an automobile, or truck are likely to suffer the greatest extremes of abuse. Sitting on a dashboard is almost oven like in the summer; and of course, it is just the oppositie in the winter when a car is left outdoors.

    In a number of instances the environmental specs (heat/cold/vibration) for an auto are tougher than mil requirements.

    It is a good educational exercise to tear apart auto electronics to note how they are constructed.

    It is common for engineers to get waivers to use auto speced parts for mil use.

    One problem is that doing mil testing takes lots of time..and sometimes you can't wait.

    I remember seeing parents of soldiers sending commercial GPS units to Iraq during Desert Storm when the mil vendors could not deliver on time. During this recent conflict it was common for families to send commercial electronics to soldiers because of supply delays...but dust and heat guarantees a short life time. Remember the hillbilly shielding that they were putting on Humvees...it takes the military a long time to catch up.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2014-02-03 23:34
    Environmental testing of my home projects is done in the actual operating environment, the home.

    If you have dogs, cats, or children around they will find a way to destroy pretty much anything.

    I don't normally expect an industrial spec temperature range in my living room -40 to +85 Centigrade! But temperature testing can be done just by running things on the balcony over winter, -20 is common, much lower than that is quite likely. Conversely things can be melted in the summer time especially if they are on a car dashboard.

    Susceptibility to power supply noise or other interference gets handled if it proves to be an issue.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2014-02-03 23:50
    Batteries are a big source of failure in cold extremes. Lithium cells will not deliver as much power as lead acid batteries in sub-zero temperatures.

    An NiMH cells don't like to get too hot... just baking in the sun on a dashboard may cause damage.
  • mklrobomklrobo Posts: 420
    edited 2014-02-04 03:24
    The target of your parameters will dictate the quality and cost that you will have to invest in. In the course of testing, you need to produce
    documentation of the results of your testing. Accurate testing and records will help alot, and provides answers in failure analysis.
    Good luck!
  • GenetixGenetix Posts: 1,754
    edited 2014-02-04 19:20
    Kids are a great way to stress test products but be prepared for some unexpected situations.
  • xanatosxanatos Posts: 1,120
    edited 2014-02-05 07:33
    I dropped one of my DieselDocks down a flight of stairs once. Worked fine afterwards. Does that count? :)
  • Too_Many_ToolsToo_Many_Tools Posts: 765
    edited 2014-02-05 18:59
    xanatos wrote: »
    I dropped one of my DieselDocks down a flight of stairs once. Worked fine afterwards. Does that count? :)

    LOL...yes it does.

    At one well known cell phone company prototypes are routinely (and informally) dropped down a flight of steps to screen for early problems.

    At another SV location, products from competitors are dropped off the balcony at the cafeteria...with people betting whether they will work afterwards.
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