What does "Beta Phase" mean?

[HaulingAss]

Okay, so what is it?

It's just a general term to say it's not a final production version. It's handmade so a vehicle that comes off the production line could have a lot of small construction detail differences.

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[John K]

Generalities for the term, typically used in software development.

Alpha is laboratory, workshop, bench testing. To progress beyond this phase, product must work correctly an intended to be used. Errors or bugs are recorded, “fixed” and retestested. Cannot enter beta phase without signoff or conditi9n approval signoffs.

Beta testing/phase product tested is intended for production. Testing is done outside of a scripted parameter and moved into a ”real life” scenarios testing. The intention is to see if anything fails with an iterative feedback process to repair and retest.

Production begins, go live deployment, when beta phase is signed off and any issues not repair become known issues determined as unneeded for launch and assigned to a mythical phase two deployment. Phase two deployments are unicorns or holy grails in the majority of times.

In the statement made, I took the meaning to more of a loose description compared to a strict definition. Using terms prevalent in daily work life.

If there is a public beta team, there would be NDAs signed preventing discussion. So, I cannot talk about it. ?

In automobile manufacture, pretty standard to use a first article process wi5h extensive testing at each component level, combining components and with a few nuts similar to myself who can crate outlandish…customer use…testing scenarios.

it is amazing the stress and pressure associated with the word “recall”.

 

[beeeasybro]

I beta you’re excited for your truck!

 

[John K]

I beta you’re excited for your truck!

You may want to check if your girlfriend or wife is pregnant after that one. ?

 

[Ogre]

Okay, so what is it?

Usually I’ve heard the terms more in the software industry than auto.

Alpha -> Pre production, looks like the product, but it’s mostly A proof of concept, likely has a lot of bugs or limitations. Not suitable for outside testers likely doesn’t even do the job without major issues.
Beta -> Very close to the released product. It has all the features of the final product, but likely some bugs. It’s often good enough that companies will open it up to a select group of outside testers. Apple opens their beta releases of iOS up to hundreds of thousands of people for example. Google infamously released many of their products as “Beta” for years. Beta products often end up going through multiple iterations, each one fixing bugs in the previous.

In other words, Tesla has the Cybertruck they *think* they will release, but they want to make a batch of test trucks… likely quite a few. I’m sure this is to test out not just the final design of the truck, but the production line as well.

 

[John K]

Imagining crash testing, CTs automatically break and swerve avoiding crashing, The senseless violence to CTs in crash testing sparks sentience. The robotic revolution begins.

 

[tmeyer3]

Hi guys! Sorry I didn't really read this thread, but as the only computer scientist that I know if in the club, I thought I'd define this for you.

Alpha/beta "testing" originates from IBM's software development lifecycle defined a long time ago. In was originally just "A" and "B" testing. There was even once a "C", but it didn't really carry over past the 50s.

Alpha testing means the testing of ideas.
Beta testing means the testing of a feature complete product.
It's just that simple; it doesn't mean anything more or less than that.

Beta/alpha has nothing to do with customer involvement. Some development firms involve end users during alpha, while some don't involve end users until after all testing.

A feature complete product is not the same thing as a complete product. Feature complete, again in software, means the product has all planned parts/widgets/features. As in the initial "complete" package has been achieved. It does not mean the product is anywhere near completed.

Hope that helps. Mention me if you want my attention on this one. Not following it.

Cheers!

 

[ajdelange]

There's a Wikipedia article which fairly briefly summarizes the stages of software development. In a nutshell the main distinction seems to be that alpha testing involves looking into the internals of the code (if I pass it -1 and the algorithm takes a square root will the error handler catch this and respond properly, will there be stack/heap collisions....) whereas beta testing treats the software as a block box i.e. given the range of inputs it is expected to see are its outputs reasonable.

Alpha testing would seldom if ever involve users. Beta testing often does though, as in the case we are all interested in here, the beta testers are often a small, select group.

Sometimes software never graduates from beta. If you look at the Tesla users manuals you will note that several bits of software (e.g. the automatic windshield wiper) are still considered beta. It's Tesla's way of saying "Hey if it's broke don't complain. We warned you."

 

[jerhenderson]

Beta phase means whatever it means to Tesla. I can tell you some of my work terms and they won't be understood fully by anyone other than my coworkers.

 

[jerhenderson]

Imagining crash testing, CTs automatically break and swerve avoiding crashing, The senseless violence to CTs in crash testing sparks sentience. The robotic revolution begins.

FSD becomes self aware.....

 

[CYBER PARK]

As a software engineer by training, Elon Musk may be used to this kind of terminology.

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

Hi guys! Sorry I didn't really read this thread, but as the only computer scientist that I know if in the club, I thought I'd define this for you.

Alpha/beta "testing" originates from IBM's software development lifecycle defined a long time ago. In was originally just "A" and "B" testing. There was even once a "C", but it didn't really carry over past the 50s.

Alpha testing means the testing of ideas.
Beta testing means the testing of a feature complete product.
It's just that simple; it doesn't mean anything more or less than that.

Beta/alpha has nothing to do with customer involvement. Some development firms involve end users during alpha, while some don't involve end users until after all testing.

A feature complete product is not the same thing as a complete product. Feature complete, again in software, means the product has all planned parts/widgets/features. As in the initial "complete" package has been achieved. It does not mean the product is anywhere near completed.

Hope that helps. Mention me if you want my attention on this one. Not following it.

Cheers!

I bet there is a large number of computer scientists in this club, but that doesn't mean that 'beta phase' and 'beta testing' are the same thing at all.

 

[LDRHAWKE]

How can it be anything else but Beta Phase. The total design has changed since they built the first couple of one offs for show. They do not even have the 8 ton mammouth press delivered or producing castings. The front and rear castings, bolted onto a center battery pack, is a total design concept change from the initial bolt parts onto to a mono body. We haven’t seen the first real Cybertruck yet, except in outline. What we saw was simply a model that had little mechanical relationship to the end product coming. It is no longer mono frame. It is strong stainless steel mono body on aluminum frame,

 

[Ogre]

How can it be anything else but Beta Phase. The total design has changed since they built the first couple of one offs for show. They do not even have the 8 ton mammouth press delivered or producing castings. The front and rear castings, bolted onto a center battery pack, is a total design concept change from the initial bolt parts onto to a mono body. We haven’t seen the first real Cybertruck yet, except in outline. What we saw was simply a model that had little mechanical relationship to the end product coming. It is no longer mono frame. It is strong stainless steel mono body on aluminum frame,

I agree, the castings are more-or-less essential for this.

If I were to guess, perhaps they are machining a few one-offs, casting them in half’s with the smaller press, or the “Beta” starts just as soon as the gigapresses are installed and they are eminent.

 

[tmeyer3]

I bet there is a large number of computer scientists in this club, but that doesn't mean that 'beta phase' and 'beta testing' are the same thing at all.

Haven't met any yet. But I'm sure it does mean the same thing as Elon is a university trained software engineer. Feature complete testing is all it means. Add whatever extra meanings you want, but it's purely assumption.

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