Case Studies

Wearable Device Bend Tester


Using a custom-designed machine to ensure your design will thrive is imperative to product success. SIGMADESIGN Engineers design test machines that put your specific item through its paces. Our Engineering Team, including Mechanical, Electrical, Firmware and Software Engineers, designed a Wearable Device Bend Tester to perform a full suite of bend tests representing real use cases. Using the client’s very specific requirements, we not only designed, fabricated and assembled this test system, but we also conducted the testing in-house.

SIGMADESIGN Engineers designed a custom-built, motion-controlled machine with the primary purpose of exercising a wearable device to the point of fatigue failure in order to determine failure mode.



The health of the device’s electrical circuit was monitored via USB using our custom developed software running on the host computer system or via Bluetooth communication. Machine automation between the health monitoring software and the Bend Tester’s control system was implemented to enable the machine to automatically stop or log cycle count and device error codes in the event of a functional failure.

Mechanical Engineering Services

  • Fixture and component design and analysis
    • Unique device fixturing allowed for the full range of movement while maintaining individual USB connectivity
  • 6-axis real-time force feedback with integral load cell
  • 10-up device testing
  • Dynamic Systems Architecture
    • 4 axes of motion moved bands in X, Y, Z, and Theta-Y
  • Drive and guide/bearing specification and selection
  • Maximum cycle frequency of 3Hz
  • Custom frame and enclosure design

Electrical Engineering Services

  • Custom USB break out board for live monitoring of devices
  • Custom pogo pin interface to device’s USB connection

Firmware & Software Engineering Services

  • Embedded Motion Control Software
  • Configurable motion profiles based on test requirements
  • Test operator software and user-interface for the host computer

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