How are dashcams tested to survive accidents?

[Sunny]

I've seen dashcams tested inside a freezer and heaters for hot/cold performances.
How about crash test?
Some crashes are small bump while others are extremely high energy head on to roll overs.

I assume there is some test as the G-sensor needs calibration for registering shocks.
What's the extent of those physical force tests?
Do manufacturer crash sample dashcams against the wall at high speed?
Maybe using a catapult or a RC controlled vehicles or some other tools?
Thoughts?
Those who are manufacturers here, how/what do you test if that can be publicly posted?

 

[Dashmellow]

Industry uses a variety of specialized machines and instruments for various kinds of product and package testing that measure such things as impact, force, shock, vibration, compression, PSI, temperature, loads, torque, etc., etc.

Manufacturers generally don't smash stuff against a wall to see if it breaks.
That doesn't give the engineers any actual data to work with.

http://www.halthass.co.nz/

http://www.halthass.co.nz/test-equipment/lansmont-shock-testers/model-95-115d-lansmont-shock-tester/

http://www.halthass.co.nz/reliability-services/environmental-testing-category/product-drop-testing/



Drop Tower Impact System

 

[Mandami]

I assume there is some test as the G-sensor needs calibration for registering shocks.

I think they are already tested and then the threshold trigger is controlled in the firmware. They should follow some standards ...theoretically.
They should learn from these

 

[kamkar]

hehe when i was a kid / teen me and 3 other guys made a competition to make the safest egg container, we had a size and weight limit on the container.
And then it had to endure some things, like a drop out the window from the 5 floor, 10 minutes in a fire, and it had to be able to float.

None of us came up with somthing that could keep the egg safe thru all tests but it was a funny little competition for killing some time.

 

[SawMaster]

There's always 'empirical testing'. Around 1860 Chris Spencer wanted to get the US Army to buy his rifles, but nobody was certain about the safety of the newfangled rim-fire cartridges. Spencer invited several Army Officers to his house for dinner, then afterward he hurled a cartridge into his fireplace to demonstrate how safe they were. Unfortunately it hit base-first with a "bang". Undaunted, Spencer said "See how hard I had to throw it to make it fire? Nothing like that will ever happen in storage or transportation of my rifle's ammunition." It still took Lincoln's personal intervention to convince the Army to buy.

Standardized testing is good, but the real world can make it look silly. More than once I have heard Engineers say "That's impossible!" while seeing it happen for themselves. My response is always "Well it happened so it's possible- and you're wrong too." I can't understand why engineers generally don't like me!

Phil

 

[throrope]

They watch the videos here and check what camera we used.

 

[jokiin]

Standardized testing is good, but the real world can make it look silly. More than once I have heard Engineers say "That's impossible!" while seeing it happen for themselves. My response is always "Well it happened so it's possible- and you're wrong too." I can't understand why engineers generally don't like me!

Phil

true test of a lot of products is give them to someone that knows absolutely nothing about them, they'll find ways to break stuff you never even thought of

 

[Deleted member 46308]

true test of a lot of products is give them to someone that knows absolutely nothing about them, they'll find ways to break stuff you never even thought of

 

[Dashmellow]

true test of a lot of products is give them to someone that knows absolutely nothing about them, they'll find ways to break stuff you never even thought of

"A common mistake people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools."
- Douglas Adams

 

[DT MI]

"A common mistake people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools."
- Douglas Adams

I always heard that as "Nothing will ever be idiot proof because nature continually makes better idiots".

 

[DT MI]

true test of a lot of products is give them to someone that knows absolutely nothing about them, they'll find ways to break stuff you never even thought of

True. When I was in S/W development the final beta test for a user interface was to give an end user the program and the documentation then just sit back and watch.

It always amazed me how incomplete the documentation was when it came to actually getting the job done. It generally came down to the fact that some people are not 'problem solvers' or 'logical thinkers' and have to be told what to do and how to do it - for every scenario.

If a screen had, for example, 5 options and the documentation said "For option 1 press '1', For option 2 press '2', etc.", some people could not extent that to options 3, 4, and 5 and would ask how to select options other than 1 or 2 rather than just trying.

Most program bugs were found by the other extreme - people who will try something 'just to see what happens'.

I'm glad I don't do that anymore...

 

[Dashmellow]

Most program bugs were found by the other extreme - people who will try something 'just to see what happens'.

That sounds like me! And not just with software. Sometimes it's a good thing to do and sometimes it's not, but it's always interesting.

 

[DT MI]

That sounds like me! And not just with software. Sometimes it's a good thing to do and sometimes it's not, but it's always interesting.

I'm the same way. Of all the things I've broken in my life I'd guess 90% were out of curiosity versus abuse/accident.

 

[Dashmellow]

I'm the same way. Of all the things I've broken in my life I'd guess 90% were out of curiosity versus abuse/accident.

It's the only way to be as far as I'm concerned. We'd all still be living in caves and wearing loincloths if men and women didn't have a natural curiosity to try things just to see what might happen.