Pilot experiment

 ( Industrial Design ) 

In clinical research, studies conducted in preparation for a future randomized controlled trial are known as "pilot" and "feasibility" studies, where pilot studies are a subset of feasibility studies. A feasibility study asks whether the study should proceed, and if so, how. A pilot study asks the same questions, but also has a specific design feature: in a pilot study, a future study is conducted on a smaller scale, which, if having produced positive results, may lead to a Phase I clinical trial. The use of pilot and feasibility studies to estimate treatment effect is controversial, with ongoing methodologic discussion about appropriateness.

A checklist was published in 2016 to provide guidance on how to report pilot trials.

In engineering, a pilot trial may be conducted to understand the design problems, learn the correct technique’s or to capture unknown requirements prior to building a prototype. It may use prototype parts or simply samples to see which are successful and which are not, prior to more significant development effort. A pilot can typically be differentiated from a prototype by being significantly different in build, if not in function i.e. it is not intended to be developed into the end product, but to learn how to design and build the end product successfully.

• Dry run (testing)
• Mass production
• Mock-up
• Pilot plant
• Proof of concept
• Prototype