Meet the Bots
The SquareTrade Labs bots, developed in partnership with award-winning robotics scientist Dr. Michael McKinley, help us assign Breakability Scores to devices by simulating some of the most common ways people break their phones.
Drop Bot
What it measures:
Drop Bot helps us determine the breakability of a device after a single-impact drop onto concrete from a height of six feet.
How it works:
Drop Bot consists of a vertical test track and a sliding test head. It is critical that smartphone drop tests are conducted precisely to allow durability comparisons to be made between models. The unique design of the Drop Bot test head allows phones to be precisely positioned prior to drop. During a drop test, the test head is allowed to free-fall from a desired height while maintaining alignment of the phones under test. Just prior to impact, the test head releases the phones without disturbing phone orientation to ensure that the phones impact a test surface in exactly the same orientation. By releasing the phones during free fall (moments before impact), the phones experience minimal disturbance to orientation, ensuring test consistency.
Bend Bot
What it measures:
Bend Bot measures the relative bend strength of a device by identifying the weight required to permanently deform its overall structure.
How it works:
In 2014, some popular smartphones were observed to have bent when subjected to relatively low bending loads. Consumers alleged that they experienced phone-bending failures when devices were carried in their pockets. A 3-point bending process tests the relative bending strength of smartphones by identifying the load required to deform the overall structure. Deformation occurs when a phone is bent beyond the point that it no longer recovers to its original shape when unloaded.
Tumble Bot
What it measures:
Tumble Bot illustrates the effects of multiple, random impacts experienced by a smartphone during long-term use.
How it works:
The test consists of a rotating chamber with interchangeable surface plates. The rotational speed can be controlled to allow for variable impact intensity. Phones are placed inside the chamber and tumbled at random for 60 seconds.
Dunk Bot
What it measures:
Dunk Bot measures the deep water (five foot) submersion-resistance of smartphones.
How it works:
Dunk Bot was designed to allow phones to be submerged in a five-foot-deep water column with a controllable dunk carrier. Phones are placed in the dunk carrier and submerged for 30 minutes. The water chamber was designed to be transparent so that phones can be observed before, during, and after testing.
Fold Bot
What it measures:
The Fold Bot opens and closes foldable devices to measure the lifespan of moving parts.
How it works:
Fold Bot was designed to test the lifespan of foldable phones and tablets by carefully opening and closing folding components in a repeatable way. Fold Bot has special grippers that fold and unfold the device automatically without applying unwanted loads. Fold Bot will provide insight into the fatigue behavior of foldable devices and can accelerate several years of use into several days.
Meet Dr. McKinley, Robot Scientist
Dr. Michael McKinley holds multiple degrees in mechanical engineering and a PhD in the Design of Exoskeleton Systems from UC Berkeley. He specializes in rapid design and prototyping of hardware, software, electronics, and sewn components.
Michael owns numerous patents and patents-pending in actuator design, control systems, and exoskeleton design, and has received many awards recognizing the engineering merits, business applications, and social impact of his work.
To date, Dr. McKinley has designed more than ten bots for SquareTrade Labs, including the Shot Bot, Sling Bot, Slide Bot, and more.