This paper presents a technology that can accelerate the development of hydro turbines by fully automating the initial testing process of prototype turbine models and automatically converting the acquired data into efficiency hill charts that allow straight forward comparison of prototypes' performance. The testing procedure of both reaction and impulse turbines is illustrated using models of Francis and Felton turbines respectively. For the development of an appropriate hill chart containing no less than 780 points the average duration of the fully automated test is 4 h while the acquired data files can be processed into descriptive standard efficiency hill charts within less than a minute. These hill charts can then be used in research and development to quickly evaluate and compare the performance of initial turbine prototype designs before proceeding to much lengthier and more expensive development stage of the chosen design. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.