The Test Stack: Infrastructure for Continuous Hardware Test
Test is evolving—take a new lens to your support infrastructure and tools.
Test is not a phase. It is the foundation of every mission-critical system.
To accelerate development and operations, we need to implement continuous test—the connective tissue linking lab bench experiments, on-site trials, and field operations.
The Test Stack provides a single framework to take a new lens to infrastructure and tools. Instead of a final hurdle, test becomes a constant flow of data and decisions, from design through operations. The same DevOps + CI/CD momentum that accelerates software teams now drives safety- and mission-critical hardware at industrial scale.
Why Now? Test Is Evolving
Terabytes of data can stream to HQ from anywhere. Starlink can push global, high-bandwidth telemetry from remote sites. No more laying company-owned fiber.
AI can handle high-stakes decisions. AI now steers everything from spacecraft to power grids. Disconnected data used to be a nuisance—in an AI-driven world, it can sink an entire program.
Manufacturing speed is no longer the limit. Automated factories and additive manufacturing can pivot to match software release cycles. Whoever validates faster wins.
Today’s Opportunity: A Modern Test Stack
Think of a modern Test Stack as a layered architecture—each layer builds on the last. When every layer works together, test and operations move as one cycle.
[1] Embedded Software
Machines are software-defined. Firmware updates roll out over-the-air, validated the moment they land. Each sensor reading can flag changes and kick off new code patches without blocking other teams.
[2] Environments
Wind tunnels, vibration rigs, and simulated thermal chambers (yes, even Thermal Desktop) become controlled variables you can spin up on demand. Test cells run systematically, generating reports in seconds—no downtime waiting for inspection or recovering partial logs.
[3] Instrumentation
Precise hardware is matched by precise processing. Strain gauges at Mach speeds and cameras capturing microseconds are measured, indexed, timestamped, and streaming for immediate analysis. Calibrations trend and adjust automatically.
[4] Edge Automation
Closed-loop logic scripts runs in real time, right where heat is radiating off the hardware. Modules can be swapped or updated mid-cycle without interrupting the test. Data syncs only when needed, so offline conditions never halt continuous validation.
[5] Mesh Orchestration
Multi-site programs, flight vehicles, and ground stations communicate in a mesh. Data and decisions flow in every direction. Deploy a new sensor or test article, and it becomes another node in the network, always up to speed.
[6] Storage & Compute
Terabytes of high-frequency data process in real time by high-performance industrial compute. Videos, audio, logs, and time-series end up as structured, labeled datasets and queryable for longitudinal asks.
[7] Analytics & Operations
Engineers have a continuous, cohesive vision of what happened, why, and what’s next. Data doesn’t sit still. It is validated, trended, and operationalized. Every test improves the next. Collaboration is native by design. Few engineers manage many assets.
Taking the Test Stack Lens
The Test Stack is not a single product—it’s a flexible framework for continuous improvement. It can be applied to an entire program or a single test cell. The key is making every layer work in concert, so data is never wasted and experiments don’t stall.
The result: a connected ecosystem where the lab, factory, and field sites all speak the same language, share data and decisions seamlessly, and propel hardware capabilities forward.
The future moves at the speed of test.
All Systems Nominal.