Nest Protect - Test Optimization
The Nest Protect is an internet-enabled smoke and CO detector.
Image courtesy of www.dailytech.com
One sample group of the Nest Protects ready to be submitted for standards testing.
The standardized setup for smoke detector testing that I was working to understand and optimize.
Throughout out my summer at Nest, my main project was to improve and characterize the performance of an R&D smoke detector test setup. Through learning about the system, designing experiments, and analyzing data, I made setup modifications and documented testing procedures that decreased variation between runs by 15%. In addition to improving the setup design, I delivered a report outlining my methods, findings, and recommendations for future experimental procedures. This report was later used to implement my recommended changes in both R&D and production facilities. As a side project, I also completed the design, build, and assembly of a test setup for extraneous transience testing of the new generation of Nest Protects.