Last week, we went on a family trip, and I had planned to use the opportunity to gather more real-world testing hours on SugarDrive. The night before, I set everything up—unit connected, pulling data over my phone’s hotspot, and looking good.
The next morning, we loaded up the car and hit the road. I powered on SugarDrive and… nothing. The display stayed blank. I tried turning the unit off and back on a few times, hoping it was just a glitch. Still nothing. With limited time and other priorities on the trip, I set it aside. No testing happened during the drive.
After we returned home, I connected the unit and checked the diagnostic output. It didn’t take long to find the culprit.
During startup, one function was depending on a value from another function—but that value hadn’t been initialized yet. As a result, the system entered a reset loop: start, fail, restart, repeat. A bug that had never shown up on the bench finally revealed itself in the wild.
I’ve since added logic to make the startup sequence more robust by ensuring dependencies are met before proceeding. It’s a simple fix, but it highlights something critical: you can’t substitute real-world use with lab tests. You need the hours, the environment, the messiness of actual use.
That’s why I’m looking for early testers who are willing to help. You don’t have to be a developer—just someone who’s comfortable with tech and understands the importance of clear feedback. Every hour of testing helps make SugarDrive better and more reliable, especially for people with Type 1 diabetes who depend on situational awareness when driving.
If you’re interested in helping, reach out. I’d love to get you set up with a unit and hear what you think.