Artificial intelligence and DevOps have proved to be a game-changer in recent times. With 30% of developers preferring test automation in 2025, this testing trend is also here to stay.

When using the term ‘test automation’, digital applications come to mind. Yet there are applications which exist and perform in a physical environment, requiring physical input at various points, and therefore for a true end-to-end test, replicating physical actions as part of test automation is a necessity too.

Employing robotics to test this physical aspect seems like the natural course of action.

Phygital: what’s it all about?

The term ‘phygital’ represents the combination of both physical and digital interactions. It’s where the user performs a physical action to trigger a digital response. This physical interaction may be required at multiple points within an end-to-end process.

Think of the computer systems in your car. When you press the cruise control button, they take over managing the power to the engine, automatically compensating for the pitch of the road. When you touch the brakes, this signals the computer to disengage the cruise control. Your physical interaction with the car in prescribed ways triggers a predictable digital response.

Features that characterize a phygital device include:

  • Low power single purpose devices
  • Connectivity
  • On the ground deployment
  • Variety of data
  • Real time processing and decision making

When one compares a phygital system to a purely digital one, it’s clear that a different approach to achieving end-to-end testing is necessary. But done right, phygital test automation offers powerful benefits. This is why programmable robots that perform physical actions have become an integral part of such solutions.

What you need to know about Phygital Test Automation

The integration of an automated solution to the physical interactions in an end-to-end flow is enabled by technologies such as robotics but also requires image and OCR recognition. With this, manual testers for such physical actions are not necessary anymore.

For example, let’s consider how phygital test automation is relevant in the case of testing a POS (Point of Sale) terminal in a supermarket. When using a robot to simulate the customer swiping their credit card, the robot performs the physical action and the terminal screen displays a message to input a PIN. To facilitate a further physical interaction, the robot needs to know its action has been successful: a camera takes a clear image of the POS terminal screen display and then compares it with a pre-loaded image or text that mirrors the expected output of a successful swipe.

Once the OCR or image recognition check is complete, the test either aborts (fails) or continues to the next step – the robot arm entering the PIN. Once the end-to-end flow is either completed to a successful transaction or aborted, generating a report is the final step, ensuring the pass or failure is communicated and understood.

Phygital test automation use case for pet care: an overview

Phygital test automation is useful in testing connected devices – IoT (Internet of Things) – because of their immersion into our everyday lives and their multiple physical and digital touchpoints.

This Qualitest Client found it difficult to replicate the physical interaction of their phygital product, which consisted of three parts:

  • A mobile physical transmitter.
  • A hardware device with a digital receiver/transmitter and processor, and a software solution driving a physical outcome and data collection.
  • A web app.

Simply put, a pet collar-mounted RFID tag communicates with an automatic pet feeder when in close proximity, causing the pet feeder to allow access – physical moving parts. When the pet eats food from the feeder, the device uses a physical scale to measure the amount removed. The device then transmits that data to an app, which allows the user to review the event and volume consumed.

Writing test cases for the web application was simple. Testing the phygital device with a physical interaction presented a serious challenge. Simulating the pet’s actions – movement int and out of the RFID range, removal of weight from the scales – as part of test automation efforts required an interactive robot. A robot that could follow commands and perform actions as programmed.

A quick look at our own Phygital Test Automation solution – Qualibot

If you’re looking for a solution for your phygital test automation, Qualibot is one such option. It can replicate most physical movements, is programmable, and comes with a range of end effectors (the device at the end of a robotic arm that allows the robot to interact with its environment, acting as the “hand” or “tool”).

Integrated computer vision capabilities that perform ‘asserts’ are essential in comparing images or text generated in testing with previously uploaded reference images or text. If the output images or text match the reference images or text, this indicates a successful completion of said task. Regardless of whether the test fails or passes, automated reporting capabilities compile and send results to a previously configured email address.

While simulating physical actions, Qualibot integrates with popular automation tools and frameworks to perform end-to-end testing. Qualibot works for multiple use cases, including smart devices, car infotainment, smart medical devices and kiosks.

So, are you looking for a tried-and-tested phygital test automation solution? Qualitest’s Phygital Test Automation Service with Qualibot can help. Speak to an expert now!

Meet the Author – Sreekanth Kondaveeti

Sreekanth Kondaveeti is a skilled Senior Specialist in the Automation Center of Excellence at Qualitest. With automation and phygital testing at the core of his expertise, his ability to design and implement customized software testing solutions by collaborating with multiple teams is second to none. Proficient in the design and development of automation frameworks like Selenium, Cypress, Playwright, RestAssured, and WebdriverIO, as well as in programming languages such as Java, Python, and JavaScript, much of his experience lies in developing phygital automation for various products and implementations at client locations.

Connect with Sreekanth on LinkedIn