On a Roll with RoadTests and How To Benefit from Participating in the RoadTest Program

Hi everyone and I’m here to admit that I have a problem. It’s the first step … to a solution.

I am a RoadTest addict.

Since joining the RoadTest program, I’ve been shipped 35 bits of kit for free, some rather pricey test instruments too. I’ve spent many hours learning about various driver boards to using different sorts of sensors. Worst of all, I actually learned something along the way and then somehow ended up doing test automation that was useful for work and hobbies. Now, all I can think of is testing, reverse-engineering and tinkering with things. It’s awful!

This has been such a big tragedy in many ways … I’m now out of space because my lab is full of stuff and I’m even giving away things just to try to keep things manageable. Those benches were never meant to be used like that!

I never thought it would come to this. Heck, I even enjoy writing now. It’s been such a change from the days when I would just do stuff and not worry about documenting it.

I … I just don’t know what to do. My hands … they click the Enroll button automatically. If I don’t apply for RoadTests, I literally shake and shiver. Even before I write the application, I’m busy ferreting around and looking at documentation. It’s that bad!

So save me … save me by applying for RoadTests so I don’t get them!

[/sarcasm]

On a more serious note – the RoadTest program is awesome and it’s been a big part of keeping me entertained, connected with the latest product developments and trends in industry, connected me with senior technical staff at times and given me plenty of opportunities through the equipment I’ve amassed over the years. I’m now a fortunate-one with a lab at home that rivals the lab at my work! I even wrote a very long blog about it back in 2020.

If you have the time to spare, it’s a great way to learn, experiment, test and tinker. Not every RoadTest will be a smooth one, but your dedication, honesty and professionalism will be rewarded with exposure and consideration for future applications, so build that portfolio!

- Gough

I learn alot from every RoadTest I try, and even some of the tougher ones with a larger learning curve, I didnt back away from the challenge. The vendor has their own engineering & test staff, they need feedback from a more diverse background of experience, so feel good about helping them out. 

I don't win every Road Test I apply for, which is a good thing. I'm especially fond of experimenters kits and tools. 

I am fully sympathetic with Gough's predicament.  I too have a bit of Road Test addiction.  I have found that developing a good road test can extract many hours out of a limited pool of free time, including the time required to devise and write a solid application.  The competition to be selected is pretty intense, especially for the higher end test equipment tests, but the reward in terms of skill development is worth the effort.

I have always enjoyed writing and I have always been interested in measurement technology.  I have been told that at the age of 2 I was fascinated with my fathers light meter, and so it began, a life long fascination with instruments that quantify physical phenomena. 

Before I retired one of my responsibilities was to evaluate and select test equipment for polytechnic student labs and for research and development labs. Participating in the element14 road test program gave me valuable insight into the performance of equipment from vendors that I hadn't dealt with before. This experience informed some of my equipment purchase decisions.

Now that I am in retirement, I see the element14 road test program as an opportunity to stay up-to-date on equipment trends.  Also, over my 11 years of participation, I have been fortunate in being occasionally selected (about 25% of the time I make an application)  enough so that the program has helped me build a very well appointed test bench.  Just under half of my current test equipment was acquired from Road Test competitions, and three instruments on my bench I bought after reading other members Road Tests.

Over the years I have encouraged other electronics professionals I know to get involved in the program. So far I have convinced four professionals to join and submit Road Test applications.  As a testament to the level of competition involved in being selected for a Road Test, only one of my friends has been successful in winning a Road Test.  He is now hooked on the Road Test program as well.

The element14 Road Test program is pretty awesome.  The time commitment can be daunting, but if you enjoy writing, have a strong ability to stay focused and remain committed to goals, this program can be very rewarding.

Mark

I like RoadTests that stretch me. Most RoadTest products, by their nature, will be new or cutting-edge, so there is always an element of exploration that I enjoy. I think it improves many skills, depending on how RoadTesters tackle things.

For instance, working on a RoadTest can be a very practical way to learn how to present material, and it's up to you if you want to practice your writing skills or video work and learn how to identify the important stuff for presenting to an audience.

You can also learn how to handle different audiences; that will be relevant in many careers, so what better way to learn than to try it out in front of a friendly audience.

It can increase your exposure to new types of data and new programming languages and improve your prototyping, testing, or demonstration skills if that's where you wish to take your RoadTest.

With some longer RoadTests, you learn how to manage your time performing different exercises and keeping your work organized when there could be dozens of screenshots or files.

You get hands-on exposure to different technologies, which provides a great learning experience. I've had an enjoyable work life so far, in part due to the things that I learned; I worked in a startup where I based our solution around a microprocessor that I frequently blogged about as I learned about it, and I had once RoadTested it too, using a cloud service. I use the same cloud service for the Startup offering. I can't think of a more relevant example of the direct application of knowledge from RoadTest to career!

For those in education, if they have the time, then trying a RoadTest could help put your learning in context, but there's something that isn't taught in colleges (much) but is super-important for RoadTests and for careers: it is Reliability. It's not complicated - if you make a promise, try to stick to it, and if you need help, speak up. Everyone was and is a beginner in some topic or another at one time. Many people can and will offer advice, but they won't know if you go silent. No one likes unreliability, and if you don't get practice in researching and working on things that are sometimes a little outside your comfort zone, how will you cope in a work environment? It is good to learn now!

I join the E14 Community in 2016. My first application was for a RoadTest grab bag.

At the time I made the application I was doing some Raspberry Pi testing that could cause damage to the Pi under test. The grab bag had a Pi1 that could be useful. I pitched the idea I was doing some destructive testing and risking a Pi1 was more acceptable.

The RoadTest gave me the opportunity to learn about the requirements of a RoadTest. I’m happy to say, the Pi1 survived the testing and found a suitable home with a high school student who was into computers.

Later that year, the selection committee awarded the RoadTest for a cellphone testing unit . I had experienced cell phone issues in my geographic area and thought, why not do some testing?

The equipment was from a company in England. They were looking to make inroads into the US market. They would have preferred a US RoadTester. That Canada uses both US and UK technology was a bonus to them.

I provided remote access so their engineering team could make firmware and software changes to their unit. A few early mornings because of the time difference gave them the data they needed to resolve several issues.

I’ve had the pleasure of doing a few soldering iron reviews, a great review on an oscilloscope, built a camera on a model train using a PiZero2W and learned a lot about current sense trying to detect the motor on a model train. All the projects supported a RoadTest.

I think one of my memorable review was a PoE unit for a Pi. 328Ft of CAT5 cable going around the outside of my house to test if the device would actually work out to the maximum cable length. That RoadTest enabled me to discover not all PoE power supplies are the same. Some will actually restrict the bandwidth. No Pi’s were damaged during testing:)

In summary, RoadTests provide members opportunity. Opportunity to discover, opportunity to make mistakes and opportunity to get free stuff, all the while enjoying the community.

Hi everyone,

A friend told me about this program, I decided to join and I have been selected for a RoadTest! I will do my best and try to participate several times!

Roadtest is beneficial to all, upon condition that Roadtester do responsible  job. Otherwise, it is waste of time to others.

Roadtests are one of the most interesting program from element14. I joined Element14 when I was doing my masters studies in 2017 and found that the community had so many things even during that time.

My first roadtest was about Infineon IoT sensors box which angle sensor, temprature and pressure sensor and a development board in Arduino form factor from their XMC series. It was really cool at that time to do the roadtest of such products. I gained quite some practical experience by working on those devices. My latest roadtest was of Nordic Semiconductor Thingy:53 development platform.

So far I have got chance to roadtest Raspberry Pi products, development boards with different vendor SoCs and microcontrollers, test and measurement tools, etc. It's so nice that element14 covers range of products and tools. For example, element14 also covers mechanical tools also to roadtest, i.e. screwdriver set, drills etc. By far, I have seen so many good roadtest being published by engineers in different domains.

Specifically speaking if you are more like a maker, hobbyist who like to use hardware and software together to create some application projects like for example smart home or IoT space you will find so many good roadtests.

I myself trying to improve my hardware side.(I sometimes regret not doing engineering in machatronics but I am fine with embedded systems for now)

I wrote my first Road Test with the AMD KV260 Vision Kit (although had applied to others. I'm writing my second now ! hurray ). It was outside my comfort zone, but I loved it.

I had to research a lot and that's what I love about it. Challenge.

They make you think and learn .

I always strive to give my best and always thinking what could possibly a reader be thinking when reading my review. Will they understand it ? Is it clear enough? Or am i writing gibberish that no one will understand?

We always grow

I first hit across the RoadTest program somewhere in 2020 and after applying a couple of times for the stuff I thought is interesting, I first got to work on a Bluetooth dev board. The diversity of products in amazing ranging from simple screwdrivers, and connectors, to beefy oscilloscopes and higher. 

It's been an amazing experience for me roadtesting 5+ products with maybe quite a steep learning curve, inability to dig deeper as expected in some cases etc. I told about the existence of this amazing RT program to some of my friends and they think that it's 'too good to be true'. This is so great amazing opportunity that no one believes it exists and works out that way. For someone who's interested to start off with RodTesting, just go for it if you think something looks interesting to you and can play with it making some experiments, and 100% no regrets. Maybe some applications may not work - may seem like demotivating? after a lot of procrastination to hit that apply and submit button but no wonder with good planned application and if the enthusiasm to go hands-on is shown, it turns out good.