Following last post: the nature of testing

People asked me what I meant about the all-terrain robot being tested. Besides the obvious (lab footage of the robot completing tasks in the lab, such as climbing bricks and jumping over an obstacle), there is a single moment in the video that represent for me an inner truth about testing:

Testing requires certain cruelty...

Look how the tester kicks the robot on 00:35. Let me describe it for you: the team is working on this ingenious invention, a wonderful machine with unbelievable capabilities, they must love it (ok, except the annoying sound). I bet they have a nick name for it. This is a condition in which you want to see your loved one succeeds.

Instead, they take it out to test it in the worst ever conditions - in this case literally walking on thin ice. To top it, this guy just kicks it out of balance, in the most vicious way!

We are required to do the same thing with the software we test: bring it to the limit, then push and observe if it falls gracefully, crashes into ugly crisis or recover brilliantly. Living the sentiments aside - we must kick it hard. If we don't, reality will.

Testing an all-terrain robot

Amazing video of military all-terrain robot (looks like a headless donkey). Video also covers tests in lab, interesting to see how it handles different surfaces.