New Robotic Device Brings Easy Automation to the Testing Process

2 August 2013

Ben Logan

Director

Passionate about improving services and experiences for the people that use them.

Automated testing software is one of the most common means with which developers check on functionality, but how about using a robot to test your applications on mobile devices?

Jason Huggins has come up with “Tapster” – a robot that mimics the touch of the human finger based on chosen parameters.

The device, which can either be purchased or assembled with a 3D printer, is able to emulate gestures and swipes which would otherwise be hard to simulate. Its creator thinks that it will bridge the gap between automated and manual testing. The device is proving especially useful when testing iPhones, as Apple haven’t offered an API for building testing tools.

As a developer, changing one line of code can have small unforeseen circumstances and as such, a robot programmed to test all the input options on an application to make sure that nothing has been broken can save a huge amount of time and frustration.

On total, 70% of the money spent during the testing process is estimated to be used on manual testing, and while there will always be room for this in the development process, a tool such as the Tapster could come in handy for taking care of extensive repetitive actions.