Amazon Lab126 is best known as an innovation hub where we build new devices, but it’s also where we break them. The Lab126 headquarters in Sunnyvale, California is home to a unique space where researchers are smashing Kindle glass, shocking Echo devices, and spraying Echo Frames with water. It’s called the reliability lab, and the goal of all that destruction is to improve prototypes before they go into production.
There are several Amazon reliability labs around the world. We visited the Sunnyvale location to meet the team and learn more about their work. Here’s what we learned.
The reliability lab in Sunnyvale specializes in testing Amazon’s devices like Kindle devices, Echo Devices, and Fire TV products. Their goal is to help create the most durable, safe, sustainable, and cost-effective devices possible.
Researchers from the reliability lab work with product design teams early in the product development process to run simulated tests on initial 2D designs and test different materials before they create the prototypes, which are early-stage 3D renderings the team can use to optimize products before they’re customer-ready.
Once a device prototype is ready, it comes to the reliability lab for full-scale testing. Each product goes through a series of tests that mimic what customer behavior may look like. We visited six different sections of the lab to see some of the different physical tests.
The first area we visited was the environmental lab where researchers test what happens when devices are exposed to elements like heat, water, and ultraviolet rays. Here, we found the spray test chamber, which continuously sprinkles water on products like Echo Frames and Echo Buds to see how they hold up in rain and mist.
The environmental lab is also home to solar exposure chambers which test how the device’s materials react to prolonged sun exposure. The photo below shows how Echo speaker fabric reacts to solar exposure.
This lab also features a station for chemical testing, where researchers test how devices react to everyday situations, including coming into contact with food condiments, lotions, and sunscreen. This helps us understand how devices will hold up against things like spills in the kitchen and encounters with skincare products.
We also found Amazon’s home robot Astro getting in a workout in the environmental lab. The Astro testing station includes treadmills to keep the wheels moving to test wear and tear over time. The devices also use functions like the periscope and different on-screen elements to ensure proper functionality with standard use.
Next up, we saw the electrical testing lab where they test things like battery life, acoustics, and electrical charge. One of the most fascinating test stations here was the electrostatic discharge (ESD) test. This tests how devices respond to electric charges—for example, when a customer walks across a carpeted room and touches the product.
After checking out the ESD test, we headed to the cyclical test lab where they see how things like the buttons and the structure of devices respond to repeated pressing, bending, squeezing, and pressure.
Photo by Lucas JacksonResearchers use data from user studies and focus groups to inform the design of each test. The button tests replicate the button presses a device may see over its lifetime, as well as different levels of pressure. Listening to the buttons being pressed repeatedly was actually kind of mesmerizing. The Fire TV remote button test was particularly soothing.
Watching a machine slowly pull the temples and hinges on Echo Frames was surprisingly relaxing too.
The next stop on our tour took us out of relaxation mode and back to our regularly scheduled destruction. The drop and tumble test lab is full of slams and falls. Here, we watched a Kindle device get dropped repeatedly.
Then we watched the same device go through a large, dryer-like machine to simulate what happens when it drops at random angles.
Next up, we visited the intron test lab, where we watched how they test different types of stress that may be put on the materials of a device, like the glass, plastics, and fabrics. Here, we got to watch as excessive force was applied to a Kindle screen to see how much pressure it could withstand before shattering.
For our final stop on the tour, researchers showed us advanced equipment like MRI machines and ultra-powerful microscopes they use to analyze the inner-workings and chemical makeup of devices.
Although their work involves a lot of destruction, the researchers at Amazon’s device-testing labs are playing a critical role in helping build and pressure test products our customers love.
Photo by Lucas JacksonNext time your Echo Show gets splashed with ketchup in your kitchen, or your Fire tablet takes a tumble on the sidewalk, you can rest assured knowing a team of engineers put the prototype through the worst so you can have the best possible device.
