Testing

I ran across these videos on testing at the Consumer Reports website.   You might want to show these videos to kids to demonstrate how testing is used in the real world.  Perhaps these videos would encourage them to test and evaluate their design ideas. There are many to choose from, testing dishwashers, car batteries, ranges, and more.

This video, No One Tests Like We Do, is really a commercial for Consumer Reports, but could make kids aware of all the testing they do.  Here is one on Auto Testing.  How did they determine what to test? This video, Range Testing, interesting too. 

Testing is done to evaluate several choices to a set of defined criteria.  Testing helps us select the choice that best satisfies the criteria.  We don't have to guess which one is better.  A well designed test will show which one is really better.  After all, our guess could be wrong.

What kinds of tests could robot teams do?  Well, you can test your chassis to see how it handles.  A robot should be able to go straight, turn, and not tip over.  How well does it go straight?  How well does it turn left and right?  Does it tip over easily?   A robot should have predictable performance.  You can test the repeatability of a mission.  How many times does it work out of ten total tries?  You can test for timing.  How long does it take you to do all the missions?  How long does it take to do each mission individually?  Does your robot need to climb up an incline or go fast?  What ever criteria or requirements you have for your robot, you can design a test to see how it measures up. 

Check out the videos and have fun testing!