A smoke test is the first time power goes onto a newly assembled board, normally from a bench supply with a low current limit, while the engineer watches the current, feels for hot parts and sniffs for burning. Passing only means nothing failed catastrophically. Software teams use the term for any quick basic check, but on the bench it means watching for actual smoke.
Smoke test passed at a 100 mA limit and the rails are up, now let's see if the processor boots.
Also heard as
- power-on test
- first power-up
- smoke check
Related terms
Bring-up
Methodical first power-up and debugging of a new board, section by section, until everything works.
Golden board
Known-good assembled board kept as the reference for testing, comparing and debugging others.
Spin
To send a board design out to be fabricated; each build round is a spin, as in the first spin.