ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Environmental stress screening

Have you ever seen a mommy bird or a daddy bird build a nest for their babies? They collect sticks, leaves, and other things to make a strong and safe home for their little ones. But before they let their babies move in, they test the nest by shaking it, pushing it, and sometimes flying into it to make sure it can handle some stress.

Well, people who build things like computers, cars, and airplanes do something similar. They test their products to make sure they can handle different types of stresses that might happen in the real world. This is called environmental stress screening.

When people make things, they want to make sure they work properly in different environments. For example, a computer might work great when it is sitting on a desk in a cool office, but what happens when it is shipped across the country and exposed to extreme heat or cold? Or what if a car is designed to drive on smooth roads, but it needs to be able to handle bumps and vibrations when it is driven on a bumpy road?

To make sure the products can handle different types of stress, people use different kinds of tests during environmental stress screening. One kind of test is called thermal testing, which checks how well a product works in different temperatures. Another kind of test is called vibration testing, which checks how well a product can handle bumps and shakes.

Sometimes, products may even be tested in extreme environments like hot deserts, freezing cold places, or even in space! By doing this, people can make sure that their products will work properly no matter where they are used.

Overall, environmental stress screening is like building a strong nest for baby birds, but for things that people make. It makes sure that products can handle different types of stress and work properly in different environments.