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How Do You Solve RoadTest "RoadBlock" ?

rscasny

This past weekend I began a discussion about RoadTests called A Conversation about RoadTests, Missing Reviews, and the Future. The post received 66 comments to date and was a great discussion. I appreciate everyone who took the time to contribute.

 

One of the most informative comments I read was from someone who explained that he was excited to RoadTest the product yet when he actually sat down do to the RoadTest, he found it overwhelming. Then, when he saw he was not meeting his goals, he got discouraged and put off writing the review. To me, it sounded like he had what I call RoadTest RoadBlock. It can happen to anyone. You think you know what you want to do or you know what you want to do, but then you find out the RoadTest was a bigger job than you had imagined.

 

Technical work can be mind-bending at times. You could be staring at it for hours, and you know the solution is at the tip of your tongue, but something is blocking you. While it may be painful when the roadblock is occurring, it can also be a learning experience. Perhaps even a natural part of career growth.

 

There are a couple of easy things you can do if you experience RaodTest RoadBlock. First, leave a comment about your problem on the RoadTest page. Be as detailed as possible, If you need to post a schematic with your readings or scope shots, go ahead. Members will read your comment and often will offer suggestions or help you troubleshoot. The other thing you can do is contact me at . While I am not as hands-on as I was in the past, I do have access to suppliers and may be able to get you some support.

 

So, what do you do to solve RoadTest RoadBlock?

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  • In 2012 I did a Road Test of the Microchip multimedia expansion board.

    Review of Microchip Multimedia Expansion Board

    After having all sorts of problems with the example programs, and finally the board self-destructing, I gave up.

    Sometimes It's just not your fault. I purchased another board just to see if I caused the problem, but had the same issues.

    I didn't have any luck contacting Microchip support, so it got "filed" in a bin.

    You can't always blame the reviewer when the supplier doesn't cooperate.

     

    I also had an interesting problem with a Hexiwear device.  I wrote a cool program for it and posted it on the mbed site, and

    the next day it was "blocked" by the site owners saying that when they tested my program it caused the oled display to "burn" in an image.

    You would think that they would tell the rest of the world about a potential problem, but instead they just blocked my program out.

    I purchased 4 Hexiwear units by the way, not everyone is just looking for free parts, I'm looking for parts I can use for my future projects.

    When I like a part, I buy more of them.

    Scott

  • in reply to rsc

    Scott, that's a perfectly good road test review in my book. The only thing I'd change would have been swapping out "to be continued". Otherwise a good job

  • in reply to Workshopshed

    Andy,

     

    I agree with you regarding and his Review of Microchip Multimedia Expansion Board

     

    It sounded like Scott had some challenges and things didn't turn out perfectly. I think that's valuable info and a shortcoming that the supplier should know about. So, to my mind that's a good review.

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