Accelerated Lifetime Dust Chamber
A custom-built dust test chamber with ESP32-controlled fan agitation and automated stress benchmarking to simulate accelerated real-world dust exposure for Dell systems deployed in high-dust environments.
Overview
Dell was experiencing costly product recalls in the Indian market due to dust-related hardware failures. Systems used in high-dust and high ambient temperature environments — offices during the day, homes in the evening — were accumulating particulate matter that caused thermal throttling, fan failures, and connector degradation far faster than standard test models predicted.
The Solution
We designed and built a custom accelerated dust ingress test chamber in-house. The sealed acrylic enclosure fits laptops and small desktops, with two 40W fans mounted internally to circulate and suspend fine particulate.
An ESP32 microcontroller manages fan speed, duty cycles, and timing profiles, communicating with the host PC over USB serial. Python and PowerShell scripts on the host orchestrate stress benchmarks on the DUT while coordinating dust exposure cycles.
The test profile simulates 1 year of accelerated lifetime use in a high-dust, high-ambient-temperature environment — condensed into a single day of testing.
Key Contributions
- Designed the electrical system — ESP32 firmware for fan PWM control, USB serial protocol, and safety interlocks
- Developed the host-side Python automation software that synchronizes stress benchmarks (CPU, GPU, disk) with dust agitation cycles
- Created configurable test profiles to replicate different real-world usage scenarios and dust densities
- Collaborated with mechanical engineers on chamber design, airflow simulation, and dust media selection
- Results directly informed design changes that reduced dust-related field failures and recall costs
Note: Due to confidentiality, actual images from work cannot be shared. The image shown is a close approximation of the dust chamber we built.