Reliability testing (HALT, burn-in)
also: HALT · HASS · burn-in · environmental testing · life testing
Stressing products with heat, cold, humidity, vibration and repeated cycling to find weak points and early failures before customers do.
Reliability testing comes in several forms. HALT (highly accelerated life testing) pushes prototypes well beyond specification with rapid temperature swings and vibration to find the weakest links and the real design margins. Life testing runs mechanisms (buttons, hinges, motors, valves) through many cycles. Environmental tests check operation at temperature and humidity extremes. Burn-in or HASS in production runs units under stress for a period to screen out early-life failures.
Tests should mirror real use: a product left in a hot car, a sensor on a rooftop, a device dropped daily. Standards such as the IEC 60068 series define many environmental test methods.
Where it bites: reliability problems found after launch become warranty cost and reputational damage, while production burn-in adds time and cost, so it should be justified by data.
Founder takeaway
Define the real use environment and expected life, run accelerated tests on DVT units, and fix root causes rather than just screening out failures.
engineer review pending