This week we have been doing fall tests in order to validate our fall algorithm. We do testing regularly. Often in our daily work we want to make a fall or two just to check that things are still working as they should. Because of the nature of our product it is very important that it is working and therefore testing is more important to us than many other companies. This means we also need to have equipment for testing easily accessible. In our office we have two mattresses for fall testing, one a bit softer and one a bit harder, that we can quickly take out and make some test falls during our daily work.

However, sometimes we need to make some more extensive testing. This week was one of those time. For those instances we have a test protocol that we follow each time so that we are consistent and the testing is properly documented. The test protocol contains a description of 14 different fall types that we have identified to be the most common among elder people. There are also video instructions that show how each fall looks. When we do more extensive testing we use those 14 fall types. Then we decide how many times each person should do each fall. When performing the test we document whether or not an alarm was triggered according to a template that we have in the protocol, along with personal characteristics for the test subject, which are also given by the template. That way the documentation stays fairly consistent between occasions and is easy to understand in the future.