We’ve had our first set of injection molded Cubelets in the office for a number of weeks now. We’ve been putting them through their paces in an attempt to identify and rectify any issues in the design or hardware of Cubelets. In an attempt to simulate the regular use and abuse of our product we have performed numerous tests on the blocks.

One such test is impact testing of Cubelets. Government standards require that we do impact testing from a specified height onto a highly specified surface. We must drop our product from 36 inches onto â…› inch type IV vinyl tile (the type you would typically find in schools). I set up a nice drop testing studio in our stairwell here at Modular Robotics with the specified tile and some nice lighting.

We performed 4 successive drops of our blocks, each time checking for damage to the cube. After each drop of the block we ensured that no sharp points or broken magnets were created during the impact. We also tested the electrical and data connection of the six faces of the block after the testing. These impacts had no adverse effects on the block’s performance. We were pleased to show our expectations of Cubelets to be able to withstand this type of fall. Below is a set of images from one of the drop test videos taken during the testing. We continue to do testing on different aspects of Cubelets including impact tests on our final Battery block design. Keep checking back as we will keep you up to date as we test different blocks in different ways such as fatigue or strength tests.