Poll: How Long Does It Take You to Complete a Roadtest and Write the Review?

It varies...  For the TI Robotics System Learning Kit RoadTest I recorded the hours in the write-up with a detailed breakdown by minute for each section.  The total time recorded was 54 hours but this excludes the write-up itself, the entry form, and a TI presentation I watched.  Total time was more than 60 hours for that one.  Even for the shorter ones I would think I spend at least 20 hours including the report.  Maybe 40 hours on average but I can't really say.  Like others, I only do the ones I enjoy and I don't usually track fun time.

I must say I was shocked when I saw your review and had to take an5 minute break before poking at it

rscasny - I would have to say that it does depend on the product somewhat, but usually it is going to be more than 50 hours at least gauging by my most recent RoadTests. Even when I started and RoadTests were not quite as well planned, I don't think I would have spent less than 40 hours. Depending on how you count the hours, it can sometimes exceed it  quite substantially especially for big ticket items and where things don't go to plan and the manufacturer has to get involved.

The breakdown is probably closer to the following for me:

• Research Prior to Application and Writing Application - 1-3 hours
• Performing Market Survey, Reading Documentation, Download/Install Software and Learning Tools - 5-25 hours (more for development kits, less for instruments, depends on the documentation available)
• Documenting Unboxing and Initial Set-Up - 1-3 hours including processing of photos. This is usually a quick but exciting part of the RoadTest.
• Running Experiments - Usually 48+ hours, although some products (e.g. sensors, instruments, power converters) I have automated the testing process so the equipment needs minimal intervention while it runs 24/7 over a period of several weeks to a bit over a month (e.g. my Omron Environmental Sensors RoadTest and my Vishay SiC461 are those that may seem quick but testing can get quite involved). If I count only "contact" hours where I am either writing a script or analysing data, I'd say anywhere from 15-30 hours. This may seem long but part of the reason for this is that many times, the initial experiment doesn't go according to plan and is a "learning" experiment, with a follow-up experiment conducted that produces the actual data that is published. Further to this, it also includes the time necessary to grab photos and edit them, scribble some notes for the final report and plan the structure of the review. It also includes time for moving around equipment and building the test setup for testing (e.g. adapters).
• Writing up a Report and Uploading - 5-10 hours total.

The total of the above excluding the unattended test time would be anywhere from 27 hours (at a minimum) to 71 hours. The unattended test hours could easily add 500 hours+ to some RoadTests (which for me, usually means an occasional middle-of-the-night wake-up to attend to a piece of equipment that is fallen over and beeping at me, or having to tolerate a lot of fan noise ... and pay for the energy bills).

I realise that I am perhaps in the minority in terms of my willingness to take testing to the extreme - but I find it is a duty that comes with the privilege of having a suite of test equipment and also find it to be an interesting way to sharpen my skills and learn something new. It's not always going to be enjoyable, and I agree, perhaps buying the equipment is cheaper in the end, but it provides its own motivation for me to actually explore something with a firm deadline and an audience to report to. A RoadTest is a work that requires commitment, both during the RoadTest and afterwards (e.g. to address follow-up comments and questions).

- Gough

To me, writing a roadtest review and the time taken depends upon the many factors.

1. The main reason for applying for a roadtest is the relevance of the item/product to the roadtester.
   In my case, I am more centric towards IoT and Robotics. So I always choose the roadtests in this genre.
2. Next is the experience of the applicant with the tools or similar tools/ language that are needed to be worked upon in the roadtest.
   I will always choose if they more familiar to me. Eg: Embedded C/C++, Python.
   For other cases, it will cause more effort and hours to learn and get accostumed.
   Yet sometimes I tend to choose a new platform if it gives a real interest in me or if I see a possble advantage of using it in the future.
3. The community and technical support for the roadtest item.
   If the support is low, probably, it leads to spending more time figuring out many functionalities of the item.
   Yes, we should be able to or atleast try to figure most of it out ourselves.
   But for full time student / part time hobbyists like myself who only do these stuff in my leisure time, there won't be probably enough time within the roadtest timeframe to do a complete justification in this part of the roadtest.
4. This is related to the point number 2. The tool chains or the assosicated softwares should be compatible with our working environment.
   For my recent roadtest, this became an issue as the software was not compatible with my working environment (Linux).
   Hence I tried to run a compatible VM. But flashing fails as the device gets disconnected when restarted, causing a timeout kind of problem, making it impossible to complete the procedure.
   
   

So the time taken to complete the roadtest can vary a lot even if most of the odds are in favour.

Now coming to the points by rscasny,

For me personally, I take the most time in researching the item (tools, capabilities, tutorials etc.) and to learn the building tools.

Once this is done in firm grounds, the testing and writing the review is quite easy moving forward.

Rather than making a new use for the roadtest item, I often try to integrate them into my existing or ongoing hobby project, and this have proved advantageous to me.

I selected the 21 to 30 hrs which is the average that I believe to have taken from my roadtest reviews so far.

I totally agree with Mike that for me this is hobby time - so it's time I'm doing something I enjoy. I don't really log the hours, but I'll take a guess. Also it varies a lot depending on what I'm road testing.

Someone recently mentioned that the value of a road test item didn't compare well to his hourly rate. If you're thinking of it as paid work then most road tests (apart from the big ticket items) don't pay well. That's not how to approach it if you want to get involved though.

I ticked the more than 50 hours box, but that is because all my recent Road Test experience is based on a single complex "big ticket" item. I think it would be unreasonable to devote less than a week to something costing roughly $10k.

But simple items could be a few hours.

An increasing problem is that some items which are quite low cost (like FPGA and processor dev boards) require a huge input of time to really get into them and write about them.

The only way I can justify the time is if it is part of work (sometimes this consideration is stretched a bit).

MK

I only participated in one, MAX31889 one, these are my estimated benchmarks:

Research- 3 hours- figuring out how it works, reading data sheets, application research, etc.

Learning- Not much, I didn't really need to learn(I'm already learned C and some C++ so this was relatively easy). 30 Min?

Testing:

3 hours- figuring out why GUI doesn't work

1.5 hours- talking to Maxim Support

1 hour- actually testing the EV kit

30 min- writing the review for EV kit

That's... 9.5 hours.

Then, my blogs-

IMU test- it wasn't working, spent an hour on it, then another 15 minutes or so writing.

Just over 10 hours.

rscasny Great question.  I went with 21-30, but I think that it's mainly me that drives the amount of time more so than anything else.  I could be way off because roadtest time is fun time.  It's something I want to do.

As you stated, it does depend on the If a particular roadtest.  Being honest with myself, I would fill the time even if it were easy.  I would allow some of that inevitable project creep to happen.

Researching a roadtest:  If a roadtest sparks my interest, I'll spend an hour or two (not in one sitting) determining if I'm a reasonable road test candidate and how I might road test the product.  If I can't come up with a test procedure, I don't submit an application but that doesn't mean I haven't invested any time.  The Eaton easyE4 PLC and IDT Air Quality Hat got A LOT of consideration (and research).

Learning tools:  Only once selected.  Azure Sphere... so much time that it wasn't fun anymore.  No, I can't learn C in my spare time.  For the PicoLog, 2 hours.  This includes learning all the ins and outs of the software and relearning those things about it that I thought I knew.

Writing the review:  For the one I completed... 5 hours?  This was probably more about building the presentation than content.  I don't have a good estimate to separate the two.

I hope the input is useful.

Thanks Gene. What you say makes sense. Documentation has been an issue. And the learning curve, of course.

Randall

Not sure. Maybe I will be able to record time spent in the next roadtest.