Automated Tests in Embedded – Can Startups Even Try?

When you think of automated testing in embedded systems, you might imagine racks of test hardware, robotic arms, and blinking boards in a corporate lab. For startups - often juggling deadlines, limited budgets, and evolving hardware - that can feel completely out of reach.

But should it be? Is automated testing in embedded only for big teams with deep pockets - or can startups actually benefit from it too?

Let's break down what it really takes, where the challenges lie, and why it's still worth doing.

1. Why Automated Testing in Embedded Is Hard

Setting up automated testing for firmware isn't like running unit tests on a web app. Embedded development deals with real hardware, which means you have to build a remote setup that can physically interact with your devices.

You'll need a way to:

• Power, flash, and reset boards remotely.
• Measure signals, voltages, or communication lines.
• Sometimes even include external reference devices like encoders, temperature sensors, or programmable loads that validate how your system behaves.

Then comes the software side. There's no universal framework for embedded testing - you'll likely need to create your own test environment that can communicate with your devices, issue commands, read responses, and verify expected behavior.

And on top of that, you'll need some DevOps knowledge to set up your CI/CD pipeline and runners - the infrastructure that builds your firmware, flashes it onto the target board, and executes the tests automatically.

Even after everything is up and running, the system needs maintenance: firmware versions change, interfaces evolve, and test setups occasionally fail. Automation, ironically, still requires humans to keep it healthy.

2. The Early Slowdown Effect

There's no denying it - at first, automation slows you down.

When you add CI pipelines and test stages:

• Builds take longer.
• Merge requests wait until pipelines pass.
• Engineers may grumble that they're testing "unrelated" features.

And sometimes, they're right - not every test is relevant to every change. But in practice, bugs rarely respect boundaries.

A small tweak to a shared utility or timing function can quietly break a completely different driver. A minor refactor in one module can ripple across the system in ways nobody expected. The truth is, the more people that touch the codebase, the greater the need for automated checks to keep everything consistent.

Automation isn't about bureaucracy - it's about protecting development speed long-term. You might lose a few minutes to pipeline runs today, but you'll save days of debugging tomorrow.

3. Collaboration Through Test Definitions

One underrated advantage of automated testing is how it improves communication and understanding within the team.

When writing tests becomes part of the development process, engineers must define what "correct behavior" actually means - together. This shared understanding reduces misunderstandings and makes code reviews more meaningful.

In fact, during a code review, starting by reading the test definitions is often the best way to check if everyone understood the feature in the same way. If two engineers imagine different outcomes, the test will reveal that instantly - long before the bug reaches hardware.

4. When Should You Start?

Many teams think they should wait until the system is mature before automating tests. But in reality, the sooner you start, the better.

Once you have your first main loop and the firmware compiles, it's worth setting up a basic CI pipeline that:

• Builds the firmware.
• Runs static analysis or linting.
• Run unit tests
• Maybe checks code formatting or documentation.

That's already a foundation.

When it comes to hardware testing, you don't need to go all in from day one. Start with what's most accessible: for instance, verify the communication interfaces your clients will use first - UART, CAN, SPI, or USB. Make sure these always behave as expected.

From there, you can add more complex, environment-dependent tests - things involving motors, sensors, or external measurement devices - as your product matures.

5. The Real Cost of Not Testing

Many startups delay investing in testing because they're focused on getting a prototype working quickly. That's understandable - but it has a hidden cost.

Without automated tests:

• Bugs get discovered later, when they're harder and more expensive to fix.
• Regression issues sneak in, breaking features that used to work.
• Customer demos can fail unexpectedly because edge cases weren't caught.
• Engineers lose confidence in making changes, slowing down development over time.

For a startup, time is the most valuable resource. Automated testing might feel like a drag early on - but it ultimately buys you time. It prevents hours of debugging, reduces customer complaints, and gives your team the confidence to move fast without breaking things.

6. Start Small, Build Incrementally

You don't need a perfect test setup on day one. Start with what's practical and expand as you go:

• Week 1: Set up a CI pipeline that builds your firmware and runs basic static checks.
• Month 1: Add your first hardware test - maybe a simple UART communication check.
• Month 3: Expand to test the key features your customers rely on - power cycling, error handling, or interface stability.
• Month 6: Start running nightly regression tests to catch issues over longer time scales.

Every step makes your system more reliable and your team more efficient. And the sooner you start, the more you benefit.

Conclusion

Can startups do automated testing in embedded? Absolutely.

It's not easy, and it won't feel fast at first - but neither is building reliable hardware. Testing is an investment in quality, confidence, and long-term development speed.

You don't need a corporate-level test lab to get started. You just need to begin - one test at a time.